African languages and African studies librarianship: taking a stronger position Colin Darch and Agnes Nkhoma-Darch Most African educational systemsare centred on imported languages such as English, French, and Portuguese. The emphasis in national publishing industries on producing books, journals and newspapersoverwhelmingly in those tongues is also hard to justify. It is dfficult to imagine afuture African renaissance that does not incorporate the validation of African languages in all their diversiry, and librarians should be actively seeking ways in which they might play a part. Librarians and their organisations can and should take stronger positions in supporting initiatives to validate, preserve and encourage African ltmguages. Measures are suggestedthat librarians - and especially academic librarians - might adopt. It is probably safe to say that most African studies library collections, whether in Africa itself, in Europe, or in the Americas (including Brazil), are made up predominantly of materials in English, French and perhaps Portuguese. On the face of it, it is reasonable that a collection in the United States or in Britain, both English-speaking countries,should be made up mainly of resources in the national language. The story, however, is not quite as simple as that. The overwhelming majority of publicationsabout Africa-wherever published-are in fact in English, French and Portuguese.' The few materialsthat acfually exist in African languages and that are therefore preserved in most African studiescollectionswill certainly consist overwhelmingly of a narrow range of religious texts and short literary works.2 There will be very little or nothing of sociology, anthropology,-political studies or economics. There may be a few linguisticsfudies and one or two local histories at most.3 While most librarians would acceptthis situation as 'normal', we want to suggest that it is, in fact, very odd indeed, and that librarians and their organisations might take a stronger position in supporting initiatives to validate, preserve and encourage African languages. Indeed, some scholars seetheselanguages themselves as 'libraries' in the sense that knowledge is preserved through them. Graham Furniss has pointed out, using this kind of terminology, that "languageis the oldestpart of human history [. ] We set great store by maintaining our heritage in libraries and museums,but we're seeminglyhappy to lose track of our human assets"(Crace, 2002: 19). Although culture can probably just about survive a shift from one language to another, it remains true that language per se is not all that disappears when the last speakerdies. 'With every language or dialect that is lost,' argues Delphi Carstens, 'millennia of complex oral traditions concerningintricate botanical knowledge and methodsof living harmoniouslywith the environment vanish without a trace.' Indeed, it is precisely those ancient egalitariancultures most likely to have developed sustainableenvironmental practices-in central Australia or south-western Africa, for instance-that are at risk of extinction in our modern globalisedsociety (Carstens 2001). There has been an increasing awareness of the possibleextra-linguisticlossesinvolved in language death over the last decade or so, but extinction still seems unavoidable for many of these tongues.a In this article, we start from the position that the post-colonial construction of African educational systems around the use of such imported languages as English, French, and Portuguese, is ultimately undemocraticand counter-productive. The emphasis in nationalpublishing industries on producing or importing books, journals and newspapers overwhelmingly in those tongues,is hard to justify. It does, however, give our libraries their highly Eurocentric character. It is difficult to imagine a future African renaissance that does not incorporatethe validation of African languages, in all their diversity, at its core, and librarians should be actively seekingways in which they might play a part. INNOVATION no.25, Decenrber 2002