National library of Benin

National Library of Benin

Bibliothèque nationale du Bénin
Location| Benin
Established| 1975

The National Library of Benin (French: Bibliothèque nationale du Bénin) is the legal deposit library for Benin. Originally chartered in November 1975 and located in Ouidah, the library moved to a purpose built unit in the Ouando neighbourhood of Porto-Novo during the 1980s.

## History

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Benin National Library emblem

Originally located in Ouidah,[1] The National Library of Benin was established on 25 November 1975 following the approval of the decree n°75-305. The first director of the library was Noël Hontongnon Amoussou. A 1976 Unesco report on the early stages of development of the library underlined the limited budget, the lack of personnel training, and the lack of global planning.[2] A new building was created during the 1980s in Porto-Novo, which was opened to the public in 1987.[1] For many years the director of the National Library was Florence Ayivi Foliaon.[3]

By 2014, the library did not have a fire emergency system in place, no internet network, and the place had not been visited by the country's Minister of culture for 20 years.[4]

## Description

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The purpose of the National library of Benin is to collect, organize, preserve, and make accessible the documentary patrimony of the country.[4] The library is composed of three units.[4] Since opening, it holds a collection of 10,000 ancient documents on Dahomey and Africa in general. 4 copies of all books produced in the country must be deposited at the National Library (3 for books printed less than 300 times[5]).[2] The French Institute in Benin donates 3-year-old magazines and newspapers to the library.[6]

## See also

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* National Archives of Benin

## References

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1. ^ a b Kent, Allen; Lancour, Harold; Daily, Jay E., eds. (1989). "The National Library of the Republic of Benin". Encyclopedia of library and information science (Volume 44 ed.). M. Dekker. pp. 26–27\. ISBN 9780824720445.26-27&rft.edition=Volume+44&rft.pub=M.+Dekker&rft.date=1989&rft.isbn=9780824720445&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=kH0nNw5nAmMC&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:National+Library+of+Benin" class="Z3988">
2. ^ a b (in French) Kenneth H. Roberts, Rapport d'une mission financée par le programme régulier, Unesco.org, October 1976
3. ^ Mathurin C. Houngnikpo; Samuel Decalo (14 December 2012). Historical Dictionary of Benin. Scarecrow Press. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7373-5.
4. ^ a b c (in French) Esckil Agbo, Une quarantaine d'années après sa création: La bibliothèque nationale du Bénin végète dans une décrépitude grandissante, Dekartcom.net, 25 October 2014
5. ^ Mandatory Deposit Laws, Loc.gov
6. ^ (in French) Léon Sogodo Djogbenou, De la presse sur support papier à la presse en ligne : tendances et évolution à la médiathèque de l’Institut français du Bénin, Ifla.org, 19 January 2016

## Bibliography

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* Marcel Lajeunesse, ed. (2008). "Bénin". Les Bibliothèques nationales de la francophonie (PDF) (in French) (3rd ed.). Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. OCLC 401164333.

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* Official site (in French)

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