Designing an Anglophone University Undergraduate Library Collection for a Francophone West African Environment

SUMMARY

In 1997, the Office of West Africa Programs at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and the Ministry of Education of Cote d'Ivoire embarked on a venture called Project Link to develop an English-speaking international university in Grand Bassam, Cote d'Ivoire. The mission of the proposed International University for Development in West Africa in Cote d'Ivoire is to offer educational opportunities based on the American Higher Education Model presented in English to Ivorians and other West African students within the West Africa region. The proposed undergraduate university curriculum is designed to offer life-long educational opportunities that appeal to the whole West African region as well as to the prospective students living in and near Grand Bassam, Abidjan, and Yammousoukro. In January 2002, the Agency for Education and Development of Abidjan, one of the sponsors of the international university, invited a group of six specialists from Georgia State University (GSU) to visit the proposed site and work with an Ivorian team of technology and curriculum experts to produce a work plan for the renovation of an existing campus in the scenic coastal town of Grand Bassam about 50 miles east of Abidjan. In addition to recommending physical and technical upgrades to the campus site, the American and Ivorian specialists were to advise AED on the administrative organization of the proposed institution, develop a curriculum model and suggest resources for the university library. This paper will highlight the role of the GSU Collection Development Specialist during the 10-day site visit in January 2002 and provide an update since the 2002 site visit.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• library
• collection development
• African libraries
• project link