Archives Nationales et Bibliothèque Nationale de Djibouti

Overview

The Archives Nationales et Bibliothèque Nationale de Djibouti (BAN) are Djibouti's first national library and national archives, located in the Balbala district. The institutions provide free public library and archival services to the country.

History

Before this project, Djibouti had neither a national archive, a national library, nor a system of legal deposit, a gap highlighted by historians of the Horn of Africa at a 2011 conference organized by Dr. Adawa Hassan Ali. Construction of a national library and national archives building complex, entirely financed by the government of China as part of Sino-Djiboutian cooperation, broke ground in April 2017 under President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh on a 30,000-square-meter site, with the library designed to hold up to 500,000 books and documents and the archives building providing about 3,000 square meters of storage capacity for fifty years. President Guelleh formally inaugurated the completed Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales as a gift from China, describing the institutions as instruments of information, education, and training central to preserving Djibouti's collective memory.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The National Archives is intended to serve as the central repository of Djibouti's historical, social, economic, and political records, with public administrations and autonomous agencies encouraged to transfer records more than seven years old to the archive. The National Library is designed to collect and provide access to Djiboutian literature and published works.

Access and Usage

President Guelleh emphasized that both institutions provide free, essential public services, particularly for young people seeking education and for researchers and citizens seeking to document Djibouti's history.