CAORC, in collaboration with the West African Research Association (WARA) and West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal launched an initiative with the Library of Congress in 2010 to expand the collection of resources for the Library of Congress, which are made available to the public through the LC catalog by collecting, shipping, and producing bibliographic records for published material and ephemera in twelve countries including, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The project is headquartered at the West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal, and the collective activities are carried out by Bibliographic Representatives, who are librarians and archivists in their respective countries.

 

​The West African Acquisitions Project provides access to an area of the world where it can often be difficult to obtain tangible and digital materials. The collection activities include acquiring materials published in the region that help showcase daily life, culture, social and political movements of West African countries. Examples of materials include newspapers, public health flyers and announcements throughout the pandemic, comics, monographs, maps, and e-books.