African content is...
Important
Approximately twenty percent of humanity is African or of African heritage.
Underrepresented
Within Western library collections, less than four percent of the content is African.
Inaccessible
There are thousands of digital archives containing African materials, but it remains difficult for Africans to access their own cultural heritage.
Africa Commons is a project to preserve and disseminate Africa's cultural heritage.
Closing the representation gap
Africa Commons helps close the representation gap by digitizing, preserving, and disseminating African content, to bring access to libraries throughout the world. (Photo: Mogadishu International Book Fair)
Saving at-risk content
Recent fires in Nigeria, Malawi, and South Africa have destroyed archives. Floods, pests, and climate change pose risks. We work with African institutions to identify and preserve content before it's too late. (Photo: Digitization at Moi University)
Repatriating African content
African History & Culture gives access to expressions of African heritage in Western collections. East African Magazines delivers the Hilary Ng’weno archive digitally. Both are free to African institutions and HBCUs. (Photo: Univ of S Africa by A. Bailey)
Decolonizing knowledge spaces
Editorial board
Meet our editorial board
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Open Access
We’re working with the Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to identify and build open collections of African cultural heritage. We welcome inquiries from organizations looking for a place to host their content. Any collection sponsored by a nonprofit will be made freely available to all.
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