The National Library of Myanmar, located in

Yankin Township Yankin Township ( my, ရန်ကင်း မြို့နယ်, ) is located in the north-central part of Yangon. The township comprises 15 wards, and shares borders with Mayangon township in the north, Thingangyun township and South Okkala ...

Yangon 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 ...

, is the

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, o ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Established in 1952, the National Library, along with

Yangon University '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

Library, is one of only two research libraries in Yangon. The library houses more than 220,000 books, divided into 10 sections. Its collection used to have about 618,000 books and periodicals as well as 15,800 rare and valuable manuscripts. However, in 2006, the

military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

announced a plan to move a large part of its collection to a new National Library in

Nay Pyi Taw Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw (; ), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's cities, as it is an entirely planned city out ...

, and to auction off its 8-story building and lot in

Tamwe Township Tamwe Township (also Tarmwe Township; my, တာမွေ မြို့နယ်, ) is located in east central Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 20 wards, and shares borders with Yankin Township in the north, Thingangyun Township and Min ...

. In October 2008, the National Library was moved to its current location. The library's current collection of ancient Burmese texts includes 16,066 palm-leaf inscriptions, 1972 ''

parabaik Folding-book manuscripts are a type of writing material historically used in Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in the areas of present-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. They are known as ''parabaik'' in Burmese,; . ''samut thai'' in Tha ...

'' (folded writing tablets made of paper, cloth or metal), and 345 handwritten scripts of famous writers. The library's preservation and conservation section, established in 1993, regularly maintains rare Burmese manuscripts. The library plans to offer an online catalogue. The National Library is a member of the

International Federation of Library Associations The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals. An independent, non-governmental, not-for-pro ...

and Institutions and National Libraries Group-Southeast Asia.

History

The National Library originated from the

Bernard Free Library The Bernard Free Library was the first free public library in Burma (now Myanmar), and a direct predecessor to the National Library of Myanmar. History The Bernard Free Library was established on 21 February 1883 when the Commissioner of Lower ...

, which opened in 1883 during the British colonial era. The Bernard Library was renamed the State Library under the management of the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

in 1952, and changed its name to the National Library in 1967. The library was first located in the Jubilee Hall building, then moved to Pansodan Road, then relocated to its penultimate home in Tamwe, and finally moved to its present location in Yankin in October 2008.

References

{{library-stub Libraries in Myanmar

Government agencies established in 1952 Buildings and structures in Yangon Libraries established in 1952 Library buildings completed in 2008 1952 establishments in Burma