State Central Library of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, also known as Thiruvananthapuram Public Library is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, the capital of

History

The library was established in 1829 during the reign of King

Swathi Thirunal Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a great musician and composer who has to his credit over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani st ...

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

. The work of starting and organising the library was entrusted to Edward Cadogan, a British resident and the grandson of

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

founder

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British ...

. Cadogan was the first president of the Thiruvananthapuram Public Library committee, which managed the affairs of the library. At that time, only a privileged class who were called to attend the Durbar of the king was allowed admission to the library. In 1898 it was opened to the public and became known as "Thiruvananthapuram People’s Library". Other landmarks in the history of the library: * 1900 - Sree Moolam Thirunal constructed the present building for housing the library, which is an architectural beauty of

gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

, in commemoration of the

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

. * 1938 - The administration of the Thiruvananthapuram Public Library was handed over to University of

(now

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

). * 1948 - The state government was directed to take over the administration of the library from the university by a resolution of the state legislature. * 1958 - The library was declared as the ‘State Central Library’ of Kerala. * 1988 - The library was given the status of a minor department under the administrative control of Higher Education Department of

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

. * 2005 - A New Heritage Model building was constructed within the campus for children's library. * 2007- Online reservation and RF ID facility was introduced.

Sections

#Technical Department #Malayalam Library #English Library #Circulation Section (Books & Periodicals) #Hindi / Sanskrit Section #Reference Section #Children's Library #Binding Section #Reprographic Section #Closed Reference Section #Members Reading Room (For A & B Members only) #General Reading Room (For C & D Members & Non-Members) #Cash Section #Library Office #Internet Browsing Centre #Kerala Gazette Section #Multimedia Section #Digital Library #British Library Collection

Digital library

The library has a searchable digital collection containing 707 rare documents, in English and Malayalam, and 480 digitised books in English.

Children's library

The New Heritage Model building within the campus is devoted for children's library. A multimedia section is also functioning in this building. The library is also conducting a certificate course in

library and information science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with inf ...

References

External links

Official website of State Central Library, Kerala

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060118031516/http://www.kerala.gov.in/ Official website of Government of Kerala{{Authority control Libraries in Thiruvananthapuram Public libraries in India 1829 establishments in India Government buildings in Kerala Libraries established in 1829 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria Gothic Revival architecture in India