Mali - Libraries and museums

In Bamako are located the National Library (20,000 volumes) and archives, a municipal library, and the library of the Islamic Center, opened in 1987. In addition, the French Cultural Center, with 27,000 volumes, serves as a public library, and there is a US Information Service library as well as several other privately run libraries. Timbucktu has a center of historic research with valuable Arabic manuscripts, which also serves as a museum. The National Museum, which also has a library, is in Bamako, as is the Sudanese Museum, detailing the country's history as the former French Sudan. Regional museums are located in Gao and Sikasso, and there is a historical museum in Timbuktu.