The Bernard Free Library was the first free public library in Burma (now Myanmar), and a direct predecessor to the

National Library of Myanmar The National Library of Myanmar, located in Yankin Township, Yangon, is the national library of Myanmar. Established in 1952, the National Library, along with Yangon University Library, is one of only two research libraries in Yangon. The librar ...

History

The Bernard Free Library was established on 21 February 1883 when the Commissioner of Lower Myanmar (

Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...

), Sir

Charles Edward Bernard Sir Charles Edward Bernard (21 December 1837 – 19 September 1901) was a British colonial administrator. Biography Charles Bernard was born in Bristol, England. He was the son of James Fogo Bernard, a medical physician and Marianne Amelia L ...

opened a library, with his collection of books, pre-colonial historical manuscripts, and literary works, in the centre of

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

(presently No 1 Basic Education High School, Latha Township). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Library was damaged but many books and almost all manuscripts were saved. In 1952, the Library was transferred to the Burmese government, and moved to the Jubilee Hall on the

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...

Road and was reopened as the

under the Ministry of Culture. The library is the legal depository of Myanmar, under the Printers and Publishers Registration Act 1962.

References

{{Authority control Libraries in Myanmar Asian studies History of Myanmar