Timbuktu, Mali, is the legendary city founded as a commercial center in West Africa nine hundred years ago. Today it is synonymous with the phrase "utterly remote," but this was not always so. For more than six hundred years, Timbuktu was a significant religious, cultural, and commercial center whose residents traveled throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. Timbuktu was famous for educating important scholars who were well known throughout the Islamic world. Many individuals traveled to the city to acquire knowledge; others came to acquire wealth and political power.This booklist is about the ancient and modern ibraries and centers of learnign found in Timbuktu, Mali and West Africa today.
The 2003 Library of Congress exhibit of manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library and the Library of Cheick Zayni Baye of Boujbeha, two of the most noteworthy institutions in the Timbuktu area. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/mali-exhibit.html
Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/mali-overview.html