Professor Ian Taylor dedicated his life to the study of Africa.  He was a Professor of African politics at St Andrews University as well as being the editor of Cambridge University’s Journal of Modern African Studies. He was also a visiting professor at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University (AAU).  Ian passed away in February 2021 at the age of 52. His academic work was immense, he wrote numerous books on Africa, and he was a pioneer of understanding China-Africa relations. More can be found at http://www.iantaylor.info
Ian had at his office at St Andrews a huge library of books on Africa, gathered from across the world during his travels.  They represent a unique collection, and we’ve been told that it’s probably the largest private collection of modern books on Africa in the UK – 116 boxes, in total.  We aim to fulfil a promise to transfer Ian’s personal academic library to Africa, to take forward his work on enhancing the capacity of African students and academics to develop new, locally relevant thinking on the issues facing the continent – African solutions to African problems, as the AU would say.  The IPSS at AAU has agreed to host a ‘Professor Ian Taylor Collection’ in the future – you may be aware that the IPSS has become a leading institute for education, research, and policy dialogues on peace and security on the continent and attracts students from cross Africa. By very considerably expanding and improving access for students to modern texts at the library at the IPSS, the transfer of the books aims to strengthen this, and contribute to enhancing global justice through education.  And Ian’s collection will provide students in Addis with new (or perhaps classic but still pertinent) ways of seeing the intersection of politics, economics and ethics.  Expanding the capacity at the IPSS for African students to access relevant texts will enhance significantly the capacity and ability of young researchers in that institution to access current IR thinking which, in itself, will then take forward the quality of scholarship.
His wife, Dr Joanna Taylor with former student  Dr Tim Zajontz from Freiburg University, and his Eric have launched a fund-raising campaign to deliver this project. Apart from transporting the collection to Ethiopia, they will procure (locally, in Addis) new bookshelves, and will have the library professionally catalogued.  Softback books will have their covers laminated to ensure longevity, and a security tag system will be put in place to ensure the library’s proper management.  To do this, we are entirely dependent on donations.  You are invited to contribute to the private fundraising campaign, which is already well over half-way towards the financial target for this project.
For more information please contact Dr Joanne Taylor directly at drjotaylor@yahoo.co.uk.