The national archives of Liberia - Africa's oldest republic - are in parlous condition. Mostly this is the result of the on/off war that has wracked the country since 1989.

Liberia's national archives used to be housed in their own building, but this was vandalised in the first period of the war, in 1990. Some 40 percent of the records were destroyed at that time. The remainder were bundled into cardboard boxes, plastic bags, and any other available receptacle and moved to another building. This, however, was subsequently used as a barracks for Nigerian peacekeeping troops who did not always treat the archives with the respect they deserved. The records were moved again, apparently in 1993, this time to a small building in the middle of Monrovia that also houses the National Library, although the latter has few books and is also in poor condition.