University of Peradeniya library

University of Peradeniya Library
Country Sri Lanka
Type Academic library
Established 1921
Location Peradeniya
Branches 8
Collection
Items collected books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, maps, prints, drawings and manuscripts
Size 815,000 (approx.)[a]
Legal deposit 357,699 (as of 2008)
Access and use
Circulation 256,000 (approx.)
Population served University of Peradeniya and worldwide
Members University of Peradeniya (and some other groups on application)
Other information
Director P.E. Harrison Perera
Staff 18
Website http://www.lib.pdn.ac.lk/

The University of Peradeniya library is a centrally administered network of libraries in the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. It is considered the oldest academic library in Sri Lanka and one of the largest libraries in Sri Lanka today.[b]

History

It was founded as the University College Library in 1921. With the amalgamation of the Ceylon University College and the Ceylon Medical College in 1942 to form the first university in Sri Lanka, the University of Ceylon, University College library became the University of Ceylon library. At the time this transformation occurred, the library contained nearly 30,000 items. The entire facility was moved to Peradeniya in 1952, with the establishment of a new seven story building in the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya campus. The first donation to the library was the valuable and extensive collection on history, literature and oriental studies of late Arunachalam Padmanabha donated by his father Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. The Vol. 1 of the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica was given the accession number 1.

The University of Peradeniya library has changed its name from time to time as follows:

The scholar H. A. I. Goonetilleke served the library as chief librarian from 1971 to 1979 and is largely responsible for its growth.

Main Library

The Main Library is located in a seven-story building at the angle of the Senate Building and the Arts Block of the University of Peradeniya. This library contains nearly 300,000 books as of 2009. It serves primarily the faculty of Arts. The electronic database of the main library was created in 1992.

Branches

Library statistics

Table: Library statistics on collections
Statistics up to 31 December 2009 [1]
Library Lending collection Reference collection Number of periodical titles subscribed Audio/video material Number of students registered Number of staff registered
Main Library 257,789 34,865 110 648 7,466 2,409
Agriculture Library 26,110 9,800 14 188 1,376 218
Allied Health Science Library 616 786 - 14 564 38
Dental Library 466 563 11 44 229 44
Engineering Library 26,908 11,992 43 258 1,549 169
Mahailuppallama Library 1,204 239 15 38 128 4
Medical Library 4,979 17,384 23 213 1,563 268
Science Library 13,099 12,312 16 643 2,366 186
Veterinary Library 1,533 4,224 5 84 331 50
Total 332,684 92,165 242 2,130 15,572 3,386

Special collections

As part of its collection[2] of more than 430 000 volumes, the library contains printed and manuscript material from earlier times. This includes:

See also

Notes

a. ^ Table 4.1: Number of books and bound volumes of periodicals (pp.71), published in the University of Peradeniya Hand Book 2008.[6]
b. ^ "The oldest academic library in Sri Lanka, founded in 1921 as the university College Library became the University of Ceylon Library in 1942 and was moved to Peradeniya in 1952. Currently it has one of the largest collections in the country, numbering more than 500,000 in volume" - International dictionary of library histories, Volume 1.[7]

References

  1. "University of Peradeniya Library Network, Statistical Profile on Collections and Users". University of Peradeniya. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  2. Library Collections
  3. "Donations, Bequests and Valuable Collections belonging to the main library". University of Peradeniya. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  4. "Facilities and Services: University of Peradeniya Library Network". Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya. 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  5. "Donations, Bequests and Valuable Collections belonging to the Science Library". University of Peradeniya. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  6. "University of Peradeniya Hand Book 2008" (PDF). University of Peradeniya. 2008. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  7. Stam, David H. (2001). International dictionary of library histories, Volume 1. 919 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 760, Chicago 2, 60611, USA: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers., p.166

External links

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