The Africana collections in the University of Illinois Library are among the finest in the world.  The University Library has made a serious commitment to acquire Africa-related materials since 1969.  The collection covers all African countries and includes materials in more than 150 African languages.  Priority countries for collecting include Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Priority languages are Amharic, Arabic, Bambara, Hausa, Lingala, Swahlii, Wolof and Zulu. The collections are interdisciplinary, in all formats, and concentrated mainly in the humanities, social sciences and agriculture.  The Library has an extraordinary collection of primary source materials for Africana.  We have identified approximately 100 printed sources and 90 microform collections (over 12,000 pieces) covering all areas of Africa.  The collection also includes 120,000 pages of Arabic manuscripts and thousands of government documents.

Africana materials in European and African languages at the University of Illinois Libraries include more than 190,000 volumes (including 15,000 in Arabic and 3,000 in Bamana, Hausa, Lingala, Swahili and Zulu), 2,800 journals, 46,000 maps, 12,000 microforms, and more than 600 videos.  Due to the decentralized nature of the library system, the collection is distributed by subject and format throughout the system; however, the greatest part is in the Library's general book stacks.  Arabic materials are kept in the Asian Library.

The Map and Geography Library, housed on the 4th floor of the Main Library, holds an extensive collection of maps on Africa. The Media Center in the Undergraduate Library contains a collection of over 600 films on Africa. See our film catalog.

Please browse our recent acquisitions or search the library's online catalog to explore our collection .