ISSN Ghana
Member since 1986
The George Padmore Research Library was established by the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in June 1961. The purpose of the Library is to gather all documents pertaining to Africa and the Diaspora, with special emphasis on Ghana. Immediately after the death of George Padmore in 1959, the idea of establishing a research library to be a monument to the ideas of Pan-Africanism and a memorial to George Padmore was conceived by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The Ghana Library Authority supervised the construction of the building and after its completion, its administration and development was entrusted to the Library Authority.
The library performs most of the functions of a national library such as, compiling and publishing of the Ghana National Bibliography (GNB), issuance of ISBN, ISSN, and ISMN, collection of Legal Deposit and serving as a repository of the country’s literacy output for posterity.
The Library has two (2) distinct departments namely; Africa Collection Department and Ghana Collection Department with an Administration Block.
The Africa Collection Department houses books, journals and other library materials on all African countries. It also houses the George Padmore’s personal Library and serves as the National Agency for the International Standard Numbers.
The Ghana Collection Department houses an invaluable collection of books published in Ghana or about Ghana. It houses materials like textbooks, serials (newspapers dating back to the 1950s), pamphlets, special collections like; books on Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Files of the Bureau of African Affairs, local language publications, maps, pictures of prominent persons, Government Publications such as the Acts of Ghana, Parliamentary Debates etc.
The Ghana ISSN Centre started its operation in 1986 at the George Padmore Research Library. The centre used to issue ISSN manually to publishers until September 2021, when an In-house software hosted by Ghana Library Authority’s was introduced. (https://www.library.gov.gh/)
Over 2500 ISSNs have been issued since its inception. Joining the ISSN network has made our country’s periodical publications distinct and visible internationally. The introduction of the ISSN in Ghana has helped libraries, publishers and the book industry work more efficiently in terms of recognition and sales across the country.
