The Sam Cohen Library opened on December 3, 1977. Thanks to the generous financial support by Mr. Cohen, it was decided to name the library in his honour. The library and its archive houses nearly 30,000 books, documents and maps, as well as over 30,000 historical photos and postcards. Thanks to the Rotary Club, the extensive Ferdinand Stich Africana collection was handed over to the society for safekeeping. The Sam Cohen Library also houses a unique collection of Namibian and (German) Southwest African newspapers from October 1898, of which some have already been digitized.

Part of the library and archive catalogue can be viewed here.

Comprehensive information on many areas of science is available in this reference library and archive. The collection is continuously enlarged through book donations and new acquisitions, if finances allow. New arrivals are announced in our “Communications”.

The Sam Cohen Library is popular for genealogy research as several very helpful publications and documents, including local newspapers and address books, can be found here.

Furthermore, scientists and students from various fields of interest can find information about anything relating to Namibia, including natural sciences and the history of Namibia and its inhabitants, biographies, diaries, reference works, travel reports, dictionaries in various national languages, maps, photos, postcards and newspapers.

Since it is a reference library, books cannot be lent out, but the spacious reading hall invites you to do your research locally. A fee is charged for extensive research, research requests and reproductions.

A varying collection of books, DVD’s and audio CD’s from the Goethe Institute Namibia are available in the Sam Cohen Library and may be borrowed free of charge by members of the Scientific Society Swakopmund.

Goethe-Library Selection in Swakopmund