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National Library of Thailand
หอสมุดแห่งชาติ
Main building at Tha Wasukri
13°46′20″N 100°30′18″E / 13.772337°N 100.505094°E / 13.772337; 100.505094
Location	Bangkok
Type	National library
Established	1905; 119 years ago (1905)
Collection
Size	3.2M items (2013)
Other information
Budget	86,840,300 baht (2013)
Director	Ms.Vassana Ngamduangchai . (2024)
Employees	197 (2013)
Website	www.nlt.go.th

The National Library of Thailand (Thai: หอสมุดแห่งชาติ) is the legal depositary and copyright library for Thailand. It was officially established on 12 October 1905, after the merger of the three existing royal libraries, and is one of the oldest national libraries in Asia. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture in Bangkok, Thailand.

As of 2013, the library in Bangkok housed over three million items and had 11 provincial branches. Its budget was 87 million baht and it employed about 200 staff.

Background

The National Library of Thailand's main tasks are collecting, storing, preserving, and organizing all national intellectual property regardless of medium. Collections include Thai manuscripts, stone inscriptions, palm leaves, Thai traditional books, and printed publications as well as audio-visual materials and digital resources. The library is a national information resource serving citizens nationwide.

The National Library has a long history. Its precursor was the Phra Vajirayana Royal Library (Thai: หอสมุดพระวชิรญาณ) which was established in 1883, by sons and daughters of King Mongkut (Rama IV) to honor their royal father. Later in 1897, King Chulalongkorn returned from his European visit and expressed his desire to dedicate the Vajirayana Library to the Capital. In 1905, three libraries, the Mandira Dharma Library, the Vajirañāṇa Library, and the Buddhasasana Sangaha Library, were amalgamated at the command of King Chulalongkorn and renamed the "Vajirañāṇa Library for the Capital City". The library has remained under royal patronage since that date. In 1933, after democratic reforms, the Fine Arts Department was established and assumed administration of the Vajirañāṇa Library by royal decree. It was subsequently renamed the "National Library". In 1966, the National Library was relocated to Samsen Road in Bangkok and is now administered by the Ministry of Culture.

Outline history

Mission statement

1. Collect, catalog, and research national intellectual property.
2. Develop standards for the storage and preservation of national intellectual property.
3. Create and augment the value of national intellectual property.
4. Develop systems for rendering services to the diverse users of the library.
5. Develop systems to manage the nation's intellectual property heritage.

References

1. "A National Siamese Library". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 24 January 1906. p. 60. Retrieved 2022-10-25 – via NewspaperSG.
2. National Library, Organization Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
3. "NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THAILAND ANNUAL REPORT [2014]" (PDF). National Diet Library, Japan. National Library of Thailand. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
4. Reeder, Matt (2016-05-16). "The National Library of Thailand, Manuscript Collection". Dissertation Reviews.

External links

• Review and photographs inside the National Library, edited by Bangkok Library website

• 1905 establishments in Siam
• National libraries
• Culture of Thailand
• Sub-departmental government bodies of Thailand
• Buildings and structures in Bangkok
• Libraries established in 1905
• Libraries in Thailand
• Deposit libraries
• Fine Arts Department (Thailand)