African Library, Brussels

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The African Library (French: Bibliothèque africaine; Dutch: Afrika-bibliotheek) was an African Studies research library in Brussels, Belgium, originally founded in 1885 as the Bibliothèque Coloniale. It was initially established by Leopold II of Belgium as part of his efforts for the colonization of the Congo and the establishment of the Congo Free State. The library was transferred to the Ministry of the Colonies in 1908, when the Congo Free State became the Belgian Congo.^[1] In 1962, when Belgium ceased to be a colonial power, responsibility for the library passed to the Foreign Ministry.^[2]^[3] The library's holdings included material not only on Africa, but also on European colonisation in Asia and Latin America.^[4]

The independent existence of the library became difficult to maintain after 1980, and by 1989 there were fears the collection might be dispersed.^[5] The holdings, which in 2003 amounted to some 230,000 volumes, became a distinct fonds within the Library of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs.^[6] Since June 2017, access to the collection has been through the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels.^[7]

References

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^ "The African Library formerly known as the Colonial Library". Libraries: Sections and collections. Kingdom of Belgium, FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.
^ F. Coppieters, ed. (1985). Un siècle de documentation africaine, 1885–1985. Inbel: Institut Belge d'Information et de Documentation. p. 7.
^ Joanne Coyle Dauphin (1965). "Belgian Centers of Documentation and Research on Africa". African Studies Bulletin. 8 (3): 21–39. doi:10.2307/522935. ISSN 0568-1537. JSTOR 522935. Bibliotheque Africaine, Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres et du Commerce Exterieur
^ "Afrika-bibliotheek". Flanders Heritage Library. 1 March 2022.
^ Eric de Bellefroid (1989). "La Bibliothèque africaine de Bruxelles menacée" (PDF). Politique africaine (in French) (35). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-05. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
^ Christine Deslaurier (2003). "La documentation africaine à Bruxelles. Les fonds du ministère belge des Affaires étrangères (Burundi, Congo, Rwanda)". Afrique & Histoire (in French) (1) – via Cairn.info. La bibliothèque ministérielle
^ "Les trésors de la bibliothèque des Affaires étrangères déménagent", Rtbf.be (in French), 21 April 2017