Research literature by airmail to Niger
The University Library Bayreuth supports a library organized by students at the University of Niamey. With the help of the German Armed Forces and the support of the German Embassy, 350 books reached their destination in Niger.
The Club des Étudiants en Sociologie et Anthropologie (Sociology and Anthropology Students' Club) at the University of Niamey in Niger, CESA for short, approached the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence in July 2023 with a request for support in expanding its library.
The library in Niamey
Ibrahim Seyni Mamoudou
The cluster is known at universities in many African countries. In addition, some doctoral students from the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) from Niger are working here in Bayreuth. Study program coordinator Dr. Barbara Polak arranged the contact between the two emeriti of Ethnology, Prof. Dr. Gerd Spittler and Prof. Dr. Georg Klute, and Benedikt Winkhart, the subject librarian for African Studies at the University Library. The two professors spent decades researching in West Africa, including Niger. Spittler himself has also been teaching at the University of Niamey since 2008. The two professors promoted the exchange between the universities in Niamey and Bayreuth, which resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between the universities in 2017.
It was fortunate that Benedikt Winkhart was carrying out a comprehensive revision of the University Library's African collection at the same time. Multiple copies of books were removed and could be offered to the club. Together with Ibrahim Seyni Mamoudou, a Nigerien doctoral student in the African Studies department who knows the CESA library well, Spittler, Klute and Winkhart put together 27 boxes of books for shipment.
The transport within Germany was organized and financed by the non-profit aid organization Tamat e. V. Following the military coup at the end of July 2023 and the subsequent upheaval in the national government, Niamey was in a state of emergency for a long time due to a lack of security and food shortages, and there were concerns that a military conflict could escalate.The package
Georg Klute
To send the books to Niamey, the Bayreuth team managed to recruit members of the Pfungstadt military base, who tied the boxes of books into a turmoil-proof package that, according to their own statements, would even survive a parachute drop unscathed.
Despite some delays, the shipment of books reached its destination safely at the end of October 2023 - not by parachute, but on a regular landing approach. With the support of the German Embassy in Niger, 350 books were officially handed over to the CESA library, where they have now found their place on the shelves.
Arrival of the books at the CESA library
Sala Abdou Bilyaminou
The handover of the literature was finally celebrated with a ceremony in the presence of the university director Prof. Adamou Rabani and the German ambassador to Niger, Oliver Schnakenberg. This symbolic act further strengthened the cooperation between the two universities.
Ceremonial handover of the books.
Oliver Schnakenberg
Prof. Adamou Rabani and Oliver Schnakenberg at the handover.
Oliver Schnakenberg
About CESA
The CESA initiative, led by students of social sciences at the University of Niamey, was founded in 2006 and currently has 578 members. It is managed by an annually elected committee. The central tasks of the club are the social support of students and the provision of literature. Due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure in Niamey, acquiring literature and building up a collection is not an easy task, which sometimes results in students and researchers being undersupplied with literature. The club has rooms available on site that can be used for research, work and exchange.
Theresa HübnerDep. PR Spokesperson
University of Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55 - 5357
Mail: theresa.huebner@uni-bayreuth.de