National Museum Library
The National Museum Library is a division of the Department of National Museum in Sri Lanka functioning as its library and archive for its collection of books and documents. Established on 1 January 1877 as the Colombo National Museum Library when the Colombo National Museum was established, it incorporated the Government Oriental Library that had been established in 1870.[1][2][3] Since 1885, by law, a copy of every document printed in the country is required to be lodged with the museum library as it functioned as the oldest legal deposit in Sri Lanka.
| National Museum Library | |
|---|---|
| 6.910700465537761°N 79.8614216512089°E | |
| Location | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Established | 1877 |
Collection
At present the library accommodates over 12 million titles including the broad classifications of:
- Arts and humanities: Archaeology, Ethnology, Anthropology, Oriental Languages and Literature;
- Natural Sciences: Zoology, Entomology, Geology and Botany;
Document types include:
- Palm leaves inscribed in Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit, Burmese, Telugu and Tamil characters. Subjects covered include Buddhism, Sinhala literature, History, Medicine, Astrology, Demonology, Veterinary Science, Art, Architecture and Folklore.
- Printed books and pamphlets, including all locally published works since 1737.
- Periodicals, local and foreign;
- Government publications including Blue Books from 1864–1938, Administration Reports, Sessional Papers, Hansards, etc.;
- Directories, statistical year books, trade catalogues, etc.;
- Law reports.
- Maps and drawings;
- Stamps and postcards.
Special collections
The library holds the private collections of H. C. P. Bell, Hugh Nevill, and the palm-leaf manuscript collection of Dr. W. A. de Silva. Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike donated Henry Arthur Blake’s collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. A collection of Sinhala periodicals and newspapers was acquired from Ven. Kalukodayawa Pannasekera Maha Thero.
Services of the library
Library services include:
- Reference services
- Reader advisory services
- Inquiry services
- Content pages services and current awareness services
- Reprographic services (provision of microforms, photocopies and photographs)
- Short reading lists are prepared on request
- Postal and telephone inquiries received by the library
- Newspaper clipping service
External links
References
- Davidson, Lucy (14 May 2021). "Colombo National Museum". History Hit. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- "National Museum of Colombo". Great Archaeology. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- Manivelan, Preetha (27 May 2021). "National Museum of Colombo - Spend Some Time Knowing the History!". Pick Your Trail. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.