Bhutan Nation FlagBhutan

The National Library of Bhutan was established in 1967 with the objective of collecting and preserving ancient Bhuanese and Tibetan literary and scriptural documents dealing with the religion, culture, traditions. and history of the country. It has a Branch Library at Kungarabten Dzong, Tongsa district, and a Public Library in the capital, Thimpu. The National Library acquires material in three ways: purchase, exchange, and gift. Purchase remains the most important method, but the others contribute significantly to the collection. For example, in 1978 the National Library acquired the Tibetan Buddhist Canon (Kanjur and Menjur) from the Beijing edition of the complete works of the Sakyapa Masters by exchange with the Reiyukai Library in Tokyo. Also, E. G. Smith, Field Director of the Library of Congress in New Delhi, over the years donated more than 800 volumes of current Tibetan publications. The government is making efforts to develop the National Museum at Paro, one of the prominent cities of the country, where a large collection of national archival materials is being organized.


Sources:

World encyclopedia of library and information services. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, c1993.