Cataloging in complete for Bibliothèque des Manuscrits al-Wangari (ELIT WAN), the library of the Sidi Yahya Mosque, or Jāmiʻ Sīdī Yaḥyá, in Tombouctou, which dates back to the 15th century. The mosque is named for Sīdī Yaḥyá al-Wangarī, a noted scholar whose tomb is located inside.

As a mosque library, the collection is oriented towards Qur’an commentary, Qur’anic science, Islamic law, and related subjects. However, it also contains lesser-known works by al-Suyūṭī and other classical authors, as well as local figures such as al-Mukhtār ibn Yerkoy Talfī and the Jaljalī family from Say, present-day Niger Republic, which are not represented in other collections in the region. Likewise, it contains letters from the rulers of Ḥamdallāhi and the Kunta family previously unknown by scholars. The collection also includes numerous letters, documents and other notes, especially relating to Goundam, a town southwest of Timbuktu, as well as exercise books and other materials connected to the Timbuktu Madrasah, a French-Arabic school established by colonial authorities in the 1900s.

The completion of this collection also marks the completion of cataloging relating to the Endangered Libraries in Timbuktu (ELIT) project, numbering three libraries and some 7,276 items. These libraries, connected to Timbuktu’s three principal mosques, remained in the city while other libraries were evacuated to Bamako, and the manuscripts were digitized on-site in collaboration with the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme (EAP).