National Library of Mali

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{Infobox library

|name = National Library of Mali

|native_name = {{native name|fr|Bibliothèque nationale du Mali}}

|image = Bibliotheque-nationale-mali (1).jpg

|caption =

|established = 1968

|location = Bamako, Mali

|coordinates =

|collection_size =

|items_collected = Books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps, audiovisual materials, photographs, and other documents related to Mali and its history, language, culture, and people

|legal_deposit = Yes

|budget =

|director =

|num_employees = 28 (as of 1989)

|website = http://www.bn.gouv.ml/

|reference =

}}

The National Library of Mali ({{langx|fr|Direction nationale des Bibliothèques et de la Documentation}}) is located in Bamako, Mali.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Allen|title=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 45 - Supplement 10: Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition to Vocabularies for Online Subject Searching|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JErM7jeWcl0C&pg=PA247|date=26 September 1989|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780824720452|pages=247–}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mali/The-arts#ref1007318|title=Mali (Encyclopædia Britannica)|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=20 September 2016}}

In 1938, the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) was established to study the language, history, and culture of the peoples under French colonial rule in Africa. Following Mali's 1960 independence, in 1962 the IFAN Centre in Bamako was renamed by the Mali government the Institut des Sciences Humaines (Institute of Human Sciences){{cite journal |last1=Koumare |first1=Abdoulaye |date=July 1970 |title=L'Institut Des Sciences Humaines Du Mali, Bamako |journal=Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=285–287 |jstor=159389}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rencontres-bamako.com/spip.php?mot12&lang=en |title=National Library / African House of Photography |publisher=African Photography Encounters}} or the Mali Institute for the Study of the Humanities. The collections of Mali's National Library, National Archives and National Museum would eventually all be inherited from IFAN. On 29 February 1968, the library was transferred from Koulouba to Avenue Kasse Keita in Ouolofobougou, a section of Bamako. A 17 March 1984 law created the National Library.

It is headed by the Director, who is appointed by the National Director of Arts and Culture. The former selects five sections chiefs who are each responsible for one of the library's divisions: Cataloging and Bibliography Division; Periodical and Document Division; Loan and Information Division; Acquisitions, Processing, and Legal Deposit Division; and Binding and Restoration Division. As of 1989, the library staff numbered 28, 16 women and 12 men.

Books and periodicals are available free to the public for in-house viewing, though borrowing privileges may be obtained by becoming a registered cardholder. According to the United Nations, as of 2015 approximately 33 percent of adult Malians can read.{{cite web|url= http://data.uis.unesco.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=EDULIT_DS&popupcustomise=true&lang=en# |title= Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years (both sexes, female, male) |publisher= UNESCO Institute for Statistics |location=Montreal |work=UIS.Stat |access-date=19 August 2017 }}

The library hosts some of the exhibits for African Photography Encounters, a biannual Bamako photography festival.