National Library of The Gambia, national library

The National Library of The Gambia occupies a building on Reg Pye Lane, the road leading to Tobacco Road in Banjul. It is divided into a reference library, an adult lending unit, a children's library, a periodicals section and the Gambiana bibliographic unit. Its holdings include around 2,000 archived materials on Gambia, historical maps of the country and its towns, audio tapes and press cuttings.

Library services in Banjul began in 1944 with Bishop Daly's subscription library; the British Council opened its own library on Independence Drive in 1946 and later handed it to the Gambian government. The present building on Reg Pye Lane was opened on 15 December 1976 by President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, with £575,000 from the British government, and held 25,000 books and 500 monographs at the transfer. The Gambia National Library Service Authority was created by an Act of Parliament in 2009.

The library holds around 2,000 archived materials focused on The Gambia and its history, including historical maps of the country and its towns, audio tapes and press cuttings of major national events. It also issues ISBNs for books published in The Gambia and ISSNs for newspapers such as The Standard, Foroyaa and The Point.

The library stands on Reg Pye Lane, the road leading to Tobacco Road, in central Banjul. It keeps separate reference, adult lending, children's and periodicals sections, plus a Gambiana bibliographic unit, so ask staff which section holds what you need. The Brikama branch in Western Division, opened in 1990, is the surviving branch; the Basse branch has closed.

A digital center opened in 2024 offering internet access, coding lessons, and computer classes for all ages. This addition shows how the library combines traditional book collections with modern technology to serve the community.