State Central Library is also referred to as the Trivandrum Public Library and is located in Thiruvananthapuram in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This library is said to be the oldest library in the entire country and it boasts of a generous collection of 709 books in Malayalam and English languages. Special digital library software has been employed by librarians to archive all such books. Readers will also notice a Children`s Library which is existent inside the premises of the New Heritage Model building of the library campus. Apart from all this, there also exists a Multimedia Section in the library building and a course named Library and Information Science is also provided by the State Central Library.
History of State Central Library
The State Central Library was established during 1829 AD during the regime of Sree Swathi Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore. The management of the library was offered to the grandson of Sor Hans Sloane which served as the then British Resident and his name was Colonel Edward Cadogan. This library came to be recognised as the `Trivandrum`s People`s Library`. In 1898 AD, the assets of Trivandrum People`s Library were all moved to the control of Government and permitted to be accessed by the common masses. The current library building of the State Central Library was created by Sree Mookam Thirunal during 1900 AD and it exudes a charm typical to Gothic architecture.
It was constructed in the memory of Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The University of Travancore started administering the Trivandrum Public Library since 1938 AD onward and from 1948, the State Government was asked by the State Legislature to govern the library. In the year 1958, the library was eventually proclaimed as the `State Central Library` of the state of Kerala. The State Central Library gained the elevated status of a minor department which began to be controlled by the Higher Education Department of Government of Kerala since 1988. The New Heritage Model building was erected in 2005 and online reservation commenced in the year 2007.
Sections of State Central Library
The State Central Library possesses several sections which involves Technical Section, Reference Section, English Section, Binding Section, Circulation Section, Reprographic Section, General Reading Room, Kerala Gazette Section, Closed Reference Section, Tamil / Hindi / Sanskrit / Section, Children`s Section, Internet Browsing Centre and much more.
