University of Colombo library
| Country | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Type | Academic library |
| Established | 1870 |
| Location | Colombo |
| Branches | 3 |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, maps, prints, drawings and manuscripts |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | University of Colombo and worldwide |
| Members | University of Colombo (and some other groups on application) |
| Website | Official Website |
University of Colombo library is a centrally administered network of libraries in University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is home to one of the largest and oldest collections in Sri Lanka, with its roots dating back to 1870 with the establishment of the library of the Ceylon Medical College.
In 1870 the medial library of the Ceylon Medical College was established at its premises. After the establishment of the Ceylon University College in 1921 a new library was founded for the university college supporting its two departments of Arts and Science. It began in a room of College House with a collection of books belonging to Arunachalam Padmanabha, gifted by his father Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. The first volume of the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica was given the accession number 1.
With the establishment of the University of Ceylon, the Ceylon University College and the Ceylon Medical College were amalgamated, forming the new university. Therefore the libraries of the University College and Medical College were amalgamated yet were based separate. University College library that became the University of Ceylon library was housed at Villa Venezia in Queens Road by this time; the Medical College library which became the Medical Faculty Library was housed at the Ceylon Medical College building in Kynsey Road.
Following completion of buildings at Peradeniya Arts and Oriental Studies faculties were moved in the early 1950s. With this move, collections of the library used by these faculties were shifted to the new seven-story library building in Peradeniya along with much of its administrators. The Medical Faculty Library remained at its original location and collections of the library used by the Science Faculty moved to the facility premises at the Old Royal College Building. This led to the formation of two semi-independent branches of libraries that continue to this day under the University of Colombo library system.
...
Wikipedia