General Information

The Library of Congress Office, Nairobi, Kenya, acquires and catalogs publications from twenty-nine countries in Africa for the collections of the Library of Congress. These countries are: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Nairobi Office first opened its doors in fiscal year 1966 as a National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging (NPAC) office serving the Library of Congress for eastern and southern African publications. The Cooperative Acquisitions Program for the East Africa Region was initiated in 1992.

Exchange Program

Through formal and informal exchange agreements, the office acquires materials that would otherwise not be available. However, due to the increasing cost of postage and transportation, some exchange programs are being reduced

Cooperative Acquisitions Program

The Cooperative Acquisitions Program in Nairobi was initiated in 1992. The goal of the program is to provide scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines, and monographs to participating institutions. The materials sent to these institutions are acquired from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Cooperative Acquisitions Program also provides regional statistical, legal, and local language materials for all countries in the region covered by the office.

Quarterly Index of African Periodical Literature

This is an index of over 700 selected periodicals (mostly scholarly) which are acquired from 29 African countries. Available on-line. No password necessary.

Newspaper Preservation and Lists

Information on lists of African newspapers that are sent to the Library of Congress or to the New Delhi office for microfilming.

• List of Newspapers sent directly to the Library of Congress
• L ist of Newspapers sent to New Delhi office for microfilming [PDF/15.0 kb]
• FY 2007 information about newspaper processing

Other Web Sites of Interest

• African and Middle Eastern Reading Room
• Kenya National Library Services
• Africana Librarians Council

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