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 ...

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

burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

s opened the 'Colombo Pettah Library' in

Pettah Pettah may refer to: * Pettah of Ahmednagar, a fortified town outside the Fort of Ahmednagar stormed by British soldiers in 1803 during Second Anglo-Maratha War * Pettah, Colombo, a neighborhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located east of the City centr ...

. 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 muni ...

to establish the Colombo Library. The Colonial Secretary, Sir

Cecil Clementi Sir Cecil Clementi (; 1 September 1875 – 5 April 1947) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements from 1930 to 1934. Early lif ...

, 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 Sirinivasa is the official residence of the Mayor of Colombo. It is located on Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha (formerly Edinburgh Crescent), Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The mansion was originally built by Mudaliyar Simon Fernando Sri C ...

', built by

Mudaliyar Thuluva Vellalar (Thondamandala Tuluva Vellalar), also known as Agamudaya Mudaliars and Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh and southern Karnataka, India. They were originally significant lando ...

Simon Fernando Sri Chandrasekera Mudaliyar Simon Fernando Sri Chandrasekera (1829–1908) was a prominent businessman during the late 19th century in Sri Lanka. Born Singho Appu Baasunnahe in the village of Horetuduwa in Moratuwa. He started life making tea chests and moved into ...

(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 Viharamahadevi Park ( si, විහාරමහාදේවී උද්‍යානය; formerly Victoria Park, si, වික්ටෝරියා පාක්) is a public park located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, situated in front of the colo ...

(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

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 {{Library-struct-stub

History

Timeline

Branches

See also

References

External links