The Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) is a decolonised private library, archive, writing residency, and museum dedicated to the work of African and Diaspora writers from the late 19th-century to the present day. Based in Accra, it was founded by Sylvia Arthur in 2017 using 1300 of her own books. LOATAD’s current collection contains around 4000 books by writers from 41 of Africa’s 54 countries and Black authors from the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and around the world.

Their programmes include a writing residency, a crowdsourced audio archive of African women stories read by African women called Women Reading Women.

"This funding from ANF is a fantastic boost for LOATAD’s efforts to build a world-class African literary institution here on the continent. We will be able to consolidate the gains we’ve made over the past three years and enable us to continue and expand our fundamental work of knowledge production, preservation, and dissemination to contribute to Africa’s intellectual base and make literacy and literature available to all," Arthur said.
"Through LOATAD, we show Africans and the world that Africa’s great literary works and our literary heroes are deserving of the same respect and celebration as others. We will continue to counter stereotypes about the continent by showcasing the breadth and depth of our literary and scholarly heritage, instilling pride and inspiration in African people."

Their programmes include a writing residency, a crowdsourced audio archive of African women stories read by African women called Women Reading Women.

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