Papers of the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies (BILNAS)

Correspondence, reports, corporate plans, project documents, grant applications and photographs of the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies (formerly the Libya Exploration Society then the Society for Libyan Studies)..

The collection features records relating to the foundation of the Libya Exploration Society (subsequently the British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies), the administration of the Institute and material pertaining to the numerous subcommittees, namely, the Council, the Executive Committee, Publications Committee, Archaeological Fieldwork Committee and the Garamantes Project Steering Committee.

The Institute began to establish its archive in 1987; the records were initially held in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne before being moved to the University of Leicester. They also own a library of books and volumes pertaining to Libya which is currently in the possession of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Records pertaining to the establishment and administration of the Society's Archive and Library are present within the collection.

The image below is from D16/2/1/4 and shows the rules of the newly-formed Libya Exploration Society, later BILNAS.

"The Society for Libyan Studies was formed in 1969 with the aim of formalising, encouraging and co-ordinating British scholarly research in Libya. British involvement in this area of North Africa and particularly the archaeology of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania followed in the footsteps of the Second World War.

The work of the late Sir Mortimer Wheeler, John B. Ward Perkins and Richard Goodchild (who was to become the Controller of Antiquities in Cyrenaica in the newly independent kingdom of Libya) initiated major urban excavations at sites such as Cyrene, Sabratha and Leptis Magna, and numerous surveys of both provinces (primarily by Goodchild) and a special study of the Christian antiquities.

The formal establishment of the Society for Libyan Studies was intended to reorganise the longstanding British academic involvement and act as an independent institution to promote further work in a changing political situation. The Society's membership is international and includes many Libyan academics and students."

G.D.B. Jones, "Statement for the British Academy: The Society for Libyan Studies", (July, 1985).

The Institute now supports and undertakes research relating to the history, antiquities, culture, languages, literature, art, institutions, customs and natural history of Libya and North Africa more widely; cooperates with other organisations sharing same fields of interests; arrange for the publication of research in these fields; held lectures and meetings for Institute members and other interested parties; publish an annual Journal (Libyan Studies) and other publications which will enhance and promote public knowledge of all aspects of Libyan and North African culture and society.

The collection has been arranged into 11 series:

1. Institute Correspondence

2. Institute Documents and Reports

3. Subcommittees

4. Annual and Emergency General Meetings

5. Projects and Grants

6. Archive and Library Administration

7. Miscellaneous Documents

8. Photographs

9. Financial Records

10. Publications

11. Conferences and Lectures

12. Legal Deposit Correspondence

13. Press cuttings regarding Libya

14. 2011 Libyan Uprising and SLS

15. Obituaries and memorial services for SLS Council members

16. The British Academy and the SLS

17. The Department of Antiquities and the SLS

18. Correspondence between the SLS and other foreign missions

Available for general access

Please contact the BILNAS General Secretary on gensec@bilnas.org If you wish to consult the archive.

The collection was held at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne during the 1990s and 2000s, before being transferred to the University of Leicester with the rest of the BILNAS Archive.

The records were primarily collected and curated by John Dore when they were in Newcastle.

The exceptions to this are the Foundation Documents (D16/2/1), Volumes of Council Minutes (D16/3/1/1) and Volume of Executive Committee Minutes (D16/3/2/1) which were deposited to the Archive by Pauline Graham, General Secretary of the then Society for Libyan Studies in October, 2015.