The Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) was founded in 1971 by Carl Schlettwein. Since then, it has continuously developed and is now a research library for Namibia and Southern Africa. Published material can be found in the Library collections, and unpublished material in the Archive collections. Both areas are professionally and scientifically supervised and curated.

Compiling bibliographical lists — which was central in the 70s — was also the starting point for a publishing activity, to which essays, monographs, and publication series were added over time. Today, the BAB's academic publishing house is an important window into Namibian research itself.

In 1994, the Carl Schlettwein Foundation was established, laying the foundation for the sustainable continuity of the collections, which continue to be systematically developed and expanded.

Thanks to the possibilities offered by digital instruments, the immense distance between Basel and Windhoek feels increasingly smaller today. Our offerings now include exchange and partnership-based collaboration with people at African locations, low-threshold access to our digital collections, Open Access publication opportunities, and expert advice for research and study, in addition to events from scientific, cultural, and socio-political programs.