Colombo Public Library is the largest
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, located in
Colombo 07, Sri Lanka.
History
The first public library in the country was the 'United Service Library', which was established in 1813. It was exclusively used by civil and military officers of the Government stationed in Colombo and was housed in a building opposite the
Queen's House
Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Ro ...
on Janadhipathi Mawatha (formerly Kings Street). In 1829 the
burghers opened the 'Colombo Pettah Library' in
Pettah. On 1 October 1924 E. W. Jayawardena moved a resolution at the
Colombo Municipal Council
The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 mun ...
to establish the Colombo Library. The
Colonial Secretary, Sir
Cecil Clementi, called a meeting of subscribers of both libraries and it was agreed to hand over their books to the new library, which was to be run as a department of the Colombo Council.
The Colombo Library was opened on 10 August 1925 in a mansion, '
Sirinivasa', built by
Mudaliyar Simon Fernando Sri Chandrasekera (who bequested the building to the government), on Sir
Marcus Fernando Mawatha (formerly Edinburgh Crescent).
At its formation the library had three departments, the Reading Room, the Lending Room and the Reference Library. It had approximately 16,000 books, 94 members, and seven staff, with S. C. Blok as the first principal librarian.
In 1980 the library was relocated to a newly constructed building adjoining
Viharamahadevi Park (formerly Victoria Park).
Timeline
*In 2016, Library was fully automated with Koha FOSS Library Management Library System with a consultancy of Open University of Sri Lanka.
*In 2017, The Digital Libraries Project was launched at Colombo Public library by the Information Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) in collaboration with National Library and Documentation Services Board. In March 2019, the Colombo Digital Library officially launched.
*In 2020, The Library System was upgraded the latest versions under the guidance with The Open University of Sri Lanka
Branches
* Kirulapone Library (High level road,
Kirulapone, Colombo 06)
* Mihindu Mawatha Library (Mihindu Mawatha,
Colombo 12)
* Elliot Place Library (Elliot Place, Colombo 12)
* Kettarama Library (Kettarama Mawatha,
Colombo 14)
* Mattakkuliya (Central Road,
Colombo 15)
* Gunasinghe Park Little Library (Gunasinghe Park,
Colombo 11)
* Kotahena Library (
Kotahena
Kotahena is a suburb part of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is an area known as ''Colombo 13''
Places of worship
Kotahena is the location of some places of worship:
*Dipaduttamarama, where in 1885 for the first time the Buddhist flag was shown and where ...
, Colombo 13)
* Sri Sucharitha Library (Sucharitha Mawatha, Colombo 12)
* Peterson Lane Library (Peterson lane,
Colombo 06)
* Belmont Street Library (Belmont Street, Colombo 12)
* Henry Pediris Children's Library (
Pediris Park,
Colombo 05)
* Bonavista Library (Bonavista Park, Colombo 15)
* Eli House Park Library
See also
*
List of libraries in Sri Lanka.
References
.
External links
*http://pdfs.island.lk/2008/07/15/p11.pdf
Colombo Public Library
Libraries in Colombo District
Library buildings completed in 1980
Cultural buildings in Colombo
Government buildings in Colombo
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