In the early morning hours of Friday, December 18, 2015, the Mzuzu University library in Northern Malawi was completely destroyed by fire. This was a terrible loss to “Mzuni”, the principal institution of higher education in the least developed region of one of Africa’s poorest countries.
Below, Mzuzu University library before the fire
The library was the main place on campus for students to study, read, and use computers. Faculty members also have few books by rich country standards, but reading and reference materials were available to them in the library, including a Malawian collection of rare and historic manuscripts, many of them unique to that collection. The university’s information technology department and network servers were housed in the library. All of these resources were destroyed.
Below, Mzuzu University library during and after the devastating fire
The University is moving forward to establish an interim library for the current semester, to plan for a permanent replacement, and to seek funding for these tasks. You can help rebuild this vital resource.
More information about the fire may be found at:
The Mzuni Library Initiative 