European Librarians in African Studies (ELIAS)

  

 

 

 


Image 1: ELIAS 2025 Meeting at the Náprstek Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
Images 2 and 3: ELIAS 2026 Meeting at the African Library, African Studies Center Leiden (ASCL) in the Netherlands, © ASCL, Angela Robson

European Librarians in African Studies (ELIAS) is an informal network for all librarians, archivists, documentalists or other information professionals working with materials from and about Africa in institutions within Europe. ELIAS’s members work in a variety of institutions including libraries, archives, organisations, NGOs etc. 

The aims of ELIAS are: 

  • To promote information and accessibility of African resource materials of any kind;
  • To promote exchange and cooperation amongst its members;
  • To promote exchange and cooperation with those in other countries, particularly in Africa, with similar concerns;
  • To provide activities, platforms and tools to achieve its aims and objectives.

The ELIAS network was established in 2005 by Africanist librarians based in the UK. The network meets once a year at one of its member institutions to exchange knowledge and information on African resource materials. 

If you are interested in joining the ELIAS network, please send an email to Sophia Thubauville, Thubauville@em.uni-frankfurt.de.

Past ELIAS meetings have been held in Leiden (2007), Paris (2008), Leipzig (2009), London (2010), Uppsala (2011), Basel (2012), Lisbon (2013), Frankfurt (2014), Paris (2015), Tervuren (2016), Basel (2017), Vienna (2018), Edinburgh (2019), Online (2020), Bordeaux (2022), Cologne (2023) London (2024), Prague (2025), Leiden (2026).

The 2026 ELIAS meeting was held at the library of the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL) in Leiden, The Netherlands on Friday 19 June 2026. The theme was “Reimagining Africa” – Practical Strategies for Access, Visibility, and Use of African Library Collections. For more information see: ELIAS Meeting 2026 - Reimagining Africa | African Studies Centre Leiden.

The 2027 ELIAS meeting will be held on 29 June 2027 in Lisbon, prior to the ECAS Conference (30 June – 3 July 2027). More information and registration details to follow.