The Sri Lanka Medical Library (SLML) is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

which was started in 1844 as the ''Colonial Medical Library''. Later the name changed to ''Ceylon Medical Library'' and then to ''Sri Lanka Medical Library''. It is the oldest western

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

organization 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 ...

. The library still maintains a large collection of very old medical books and journals in their original form. Even today one could see some of the 16th century

medical literature Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of denti ...

in this place. They are in their original print form. In this present era where everything is turning into digital technology it is really surprising that these original material is maintained in their original format. The library is in fact a ''Museum of Western Medical Practice in Sri Lanka.'' According to Ceylon Medical Journal the oldest medical book in the library is a medical book published in 1608. Being the oldest Medical Library in the country it has the best collection of past journals. It has 10,330 bound volumes of periodicals in 225 titles. These include the following series beginning from volume 1: Ceylon Medical Journal from 1887, Ceylon Branch of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

from 1904, The Journal of the

Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children The Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children is a tertiary care children's hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. With a bed-strength of over 900, it is now considered to be the largest children's hospital in the world. Established by public subscription in ...

1951, Brain from 1878, Lancet from 1823, Journal of Pathology from 1893, and Practitioner from 1889.Sri Lanka Medical Library
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Library location

The library was originally located in a hospital in

Pettah, Colombo Pettah is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located east of the city centre Fort, and behind the Colombo Port. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air bazaars and markets. It is one of Sri Lanka's busi ...

and then moved to

Ceylon Medical College Ceylon Medical College was a public medical school in Ceylon. The college was established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon University College in 1942 to form the University ...

premises in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Later it was relocated in the current location in Colombo 7 in ''Wijerama House''. This is the house owned by Dr. E.M. Wijerama (1896–1980) who lived and practiced in Colombo. He gave his house to ''

Sri Lanka Medical Association The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) is the professional association for doctors and surgical professionals in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be the oldest national professional organisation of medical professionals in Austral ...

'' (SLMA). He had a special request that ''Sri Lanka Medical Library'' (SLML) be given space in his house and it should be free of any fee.

Present day status

Each year the SLML allocates most of its funds to get connected to modern medical publications, local and abroad. This is in the form of print versions as well as via on-line. The library subscribes to several hundreds of online medical journals. There is a reading room with internet access for the membership to attend to their research work. The library maintains a list of new arrivals for every calendar year so that the membership is helped in their search. The SLML also provides separate discussion rooms for groups of medical post graduate students.

Library management

The Library is managed by a committee of reputed senior

physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

in the country. The library runs according to a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. A well dedicated small office staff attend to the daily chores. The library expenses are met by donations given by the state, private organisations and individuals.

Library contact

Sri Lanka Medical Library,
6, Wijerama Mawatha,
Colombo 7,
00700,
Sri Lanka

References

{{Authority control Libraries in Colombo District