The Library collection was formed on the establishment of the Institute of Colonial Studies by University Statute in 1945. The moving spirit behind the formation was the doyenne of British Africanists, Margery Perham (later Dame Margery), who became the first Director and a prinicpal benefactor. The Library's first home was at 10 Keble Road.

In 1956 the Institute was renamed Commonwealth Studies basically because the word “Colonial” was no longer in vogue, and because it did not adequately describe the work done in the Institute which was naturally reflected in the material held by the Library. Then in 1960 the Institute, while retaining its identity and University responsbilities, moved with its Library, Office, and academic personnel into its present home, Queen Elizabeth House at 21 St. Giles.

In the early 1950s it became apparent to the Rhodesia Government that the rapid increase in literacy amongst Africans, due to the increased tempo of education, would present its own problem. This problem can best be summed up in three words, “Literacy without Literature.” Many school leavers only reached primary level and, although literate, were only literate in their own vernaculars, Shona or Ndebele. Unless books in these languages were provided urgently the people would lose their newly attained skill through sheer lack of practice and in many cases revert to illiteracy. Literacy creates its own type of hunger, hunger for books which must be satisfied, or frustration will ensue.

Thus, in 1953, the Rhodesia Literature Bureau was created, (since 1963 it has been part of the Department of African Education) to make available a supply of literature to fulfil these special needs.

The Olive Schreiner Letters Project (OSLP) is making use of ‘personal papers’ associated with, amongst a number of other important concerns, the history of Southern Africa, and doing so in an innovative way. The OSLP is transcribing and analysing all of the extant letters of the feminist, social theorist and writer Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), and will contribute theoretically and methodologically to the use of letters and other epistolary materials in social science and humanities research. In addition, the project will publish in digital format transcripts of the complete Schreiner letters, which will be free access. The project is funded by the ESRC (RES-062-23-1286), and is multi-site, led by principal investigator Professor Liz Stanley, and with research and technical teams based at the universities of Edinburgh, Leeds Metropolitan and Sheffield.

Research is an important component of any discipline. This is because through research the frontiers of knowledge are extended. It provides the stimulus for the growth of a profession. For a profession to develop, research must be vigorously pursued and the findings regularly disseminated. The case of the library and information science (LIS) profession is unique, given the on-going debate as to whether LIS is a profession or a discipline or both. In such a situation it is expected that the research process will be complex. What is clear, however, is that LIS is a multidisciplinary profession that draws from library science, information science, publishing, computer science, communication science, engineering, management, etc. There is no doubt that it is a multifarious profession that needs to be constantly researched.