State Central Library, Kerala

State Central Library, Kerala
State Central Library, Kerala
	8°30′23″N 76°57′08″E / 8.506392°N 76.952244°E
Location	Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Type	Public library
Other information
Website	www.statelibrary.kerala.gov.in

State Central Library of Kerala, also known as Trivandrum Public Library is a public library in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.

History

The library was established in 1829 during the reign of king Swathi Thirunal of Travancore. The work of starting and organising the library was entrusted to Edward Cadogan, then British resident who was the grandson of Hans Sloane, the founder of the British Museum. Cadogan was the first president of the Trivandrum 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. It was then known as "Trivandrum People’s Library".

Other landmarks in the history of library are:

1898 AD - The assets of Trivandrum People's Library were transferred to the administrative control of the government and was opened to the public.
1900 AD - Sree Moolam Thirunal constructed the present building for housing the library, which is an architectural beauty of gothic architecture, in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
1938 AD - The administration of the Trivandrum Public Library was handed over to University of Travancore (now University of Kerala).
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.
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 Section
Circulation Section (Books & Periodicals)
English Section
Malayalam Section
Hindi / Sanskrit Section
Reference Section
Children's Section
Binding Section
Reprographic Section
Closed Reference Section
Member's Reading Room (For A & B Member's only)
General Reading Room (For C & D Member's & Non Member's)
Cash Section
Library Office
Internet Browsing Centre
Kerala Gazette Section
Multimedia Section
Digital Library
British Library Collection
A Library science certification course in place.

Digital library

The library has a digital collection in searchable format of 709 books, in English and Malayalam.

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.

References

Official Website of Kerala Government