Library Description

The Afro-Americana Bibliographic Unit has an office in Room 328 Main Library.  The unit does not house a separate collection. Rather, as a bibliographic unit, it is responsible for collection development, reference and bibliographic services on the African American experience and for the African experience outside of the continent of Africa. The University of Illinois has had an Afro-American Bibliographer since 1969.

To assist users with their research, the Afro-Americana Library Unit shares a reference collection of more than 1,000 books with the African Studies Bibliographic Unit.  The collection also includes current issues of about 30 journals. All forms of reference material are included in the collection: encyclopedias, dictionaries, periodical indexes, subject bibliographies, biographical sources, institutional and organization directories, and literary guides, and many other useful works. Subjects covered include history, biography, women, literature, music, art, religion, education, economics, politics, and the performing arts. 

Also for research use is the Pan-African CD-ROM Workstation. Consisting of a computer, flat screen monitor, color printer, and approximately 21 titles, this research tool accesses bibliographic references, full-text contemporary and historical documents, folk music recordings, visual art, spoken word and written speeches, and video clips from the most important African and African American CD-ROMs available. 

Supplementing the reference works is a small non-circulating collection of high-demand items on such topics as African names, Afrocentricity, historical and contemporary controversies, fraternities and sororities, gender issues, personal growth, popular culture, quotations, hip hop culture, Rastafarianism, and reggae, to name a few.

The Library system contains hundreds of thousands of items relating to African Americans and Africans in the Diaspora, including books, journals, newspapers, documents, microforms, videocassettes and other non print media. Areas of the world emphasized in the collection include the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Pacific Islands.