On my arrival I met with the Head Librarian, Henrietta Sosu. I felt right at home seeing the Dewey Decimal books on her desk and the Library of Congress Subject Headings on the shelf behind her. She answered some of my questions about the library, gave me a handout wit the history and a description of the Library, and gave me permission to take pictures of the books and the building. One of Ms. Sosu's assistants, Coretta, gave Foster and me a tour of the Library, beginning with the information and programs board, a listing of all the various activities and services available at the Padmore.
Next we visited the African Room containing the books about Africa as a region and all the individual countries other than Ghana (Ghana has its own room). The Padmore contains over 63,000 volumes. Materials are acquired through legal deposit, purchases, donations, and exchange. Coretta told me that many of the donations come from African-Americans who bring the books to the Library during their visits to Ghana. The African Room also houses three special collections: the Noma Collection (books that have been considered for the Noma Award, an award for outstanding works published in Africa and offshore islands), Padmore's Personal Library, and the Files of the Bureau of African Affairs
The Ghana Collection, housed in a separate room, has the objective to "collect everything both old and new in order to build up a comprehensive national collection and by doing so providing the nucleus of a strong national library." Indeed, the books are both old and new and in varying degrees of condition. Also in this room are two very interesting albums of Padmore's photos.
A staircase in the middle of the room leads downstairs to the Stack Room, a cellar-like room that houses more than 30 years of newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets.
A staircase in the middle of the room leads downstairs to the Stack Room, a cellar-like room that houses more than 30 years of newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets.
Two other services of the Padmore are the creation of the Ghana National Bibliography and serving as the national agency for the management of the ISBN, ISSN, and ISMN. The Ghana National Bibliography is a listing of all works for legal deposit; all books written by authors in Ghana (regardless of nationality); books published by Ghanaians abroad; titles of new serials published in Ghana; and even the titles of individual articles written about Ghana. Coretta showed me a bit about the creation of ISBNs-- the cost for a standard number is five Ghanaian cedis, roughly about three and a half dollars. She says they receive on average about 6 requests per day, meaning approximately 36 new titles a week are published in Ghana.
Outside the building is the tomb of Padmore-- an open space, quite beautiful and peaceful.
George Padmore Research Library on African Affairs. (date unknown). The Library: Accra, Ghana. Printout given to me by Henrietta Sosu, Head Librarian.
