Joseph J. Lauer

Joe Lauer previously was the Africana Librarian at MSU, where he had worked from 1989 until he retired in 2016. Previous librarian positions were at the University of Wisconsin, the University at Buffalo, MSU (as Sahel Documentation Center librarian), and UCLA. Aside from building and cataloging the collection at MSU, he has compiled lists of dissertations about Africa and has been active in the affairs of the Africana Librarians Council and the Cooperative Africana Materials Project. He has degrees in history from St. John’s University (Minnesota) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.A. & Ph.D.); and a Master’s in library science from Wisconsin. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal and did dissertation research in western Côte d’Ivoire.