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Sri Lanka
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Directory Information
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Libraries, research, and learning have been a part of Sri Lanka's heritage, with records that date as far back as the 3rd century B.C. Several ancient kings encouraged the development of literature by providing roval patronage. Temple libraries called Pothgul contained both religious and secular works.
English-speaking readers during the period of British rule used subscription libraries, such as the United Services Library in Colombo, founded in 1813. The Colombo Library was founded in 1824, and the two were merged in 1874. The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka Library was established in 1845.
Establishment of the Government Oriental Library, as early as 1870, can be considered the first step in setting up a library at the national level. Subsequently the Museum Library was established in 1877. Its collections numbered approximately 600,000 volumes, including manuscripts, and it served as a legal deposit library from 1885. It is the principal state reference library. The Colombo Municipal Council established the Colombo Public Library in 1925, merging the Colombo Library and the Pettah Library, founded in 1829. Ceylon was granted independence from British rule in 1948. The state-sponsored free education system helped in achieving a literacy rate of 85 percent.
National Library and Archives
The National Library of Sri Lanka opened in 1990, fulfilling a long-felt need in the country. It was one product of the work of the Sri Lanka National Library Services Board, set up by an act of Parliament in 1970. The Board's primary objectives are to formulate a national library policy, to promote and assist the development of all types of libraries, especially those maintained by state funds, and to manage the National Library. The National Library functions as the central coordinating agency for all aspects of national and international library and information services. It is responsible for producing the Sri Lanka National Bibliography, begun in 1962, and has had legal deposit privileges since 1974.
The Department of National Archives is also a legal deposit library, and the Director of National Archives is the Registrar of Books, Periodicals, Newspapers, and Printing Presses. With the passage of the National Archives Law in 1973, the scope of the Archives was extended. It now houses both public and private records of archival value.
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