Facilities                     Established        Administration & Staffing
            Membership & Services                              Collection & Computers
 

Facilities: The library is housed in a large, one-floor French Colonial style building, built in 1924. The building is surrounded by a lovely garden, enclosed by a low wall.

Established: 24 December 1924, during the time Cambodia was a French protectorate. The library was closed in 1975 and ravaged by Pol Pot and his army, who took it over for military purposes. Books were piled in the middle of the floor; pages were ripped out and used for toilet and cigarette papers. Rats and mice nested in the books. Shelving was used for storing kitchen utensils and food supplies. The gardens were taken over for pig pens and runs. More books were lost or destroyed just prior to the 1980 liberation of Phnom Phen. Very few materials remained in the library when it re-opened on January 1, 1980. The Human Development Network of the World Bank is embarking on a public awareness and fund-raising project to assist the NLC in rebuilding its collection. However, there are problems relating to donor-driven collection development, some of which are outlined in an IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) newsletter article by Margaret Bywater, who has served as a library consultant in Cambodia for many years.

Administration & Staffing:

• Director of the National Library from 1980 until 1999: He Hin, a graduate of the University of New South Wales in Australia. He Hin is now Director of the Cambodian Development Research Facility.  Mr. He was not present when I visited the library, but I was able to interview him by telephone. Em Chathy and Pheng Pongrasy, of the Technical Services Department, guided me on a tour of the library.
• The library has 29 employees.

Membership & Services:

• The National Library of Cambodia is working to preserve and collect the written, audio and visual heritage of and about Cambodia and to guarantee that all Cambodians have access to information.
• Annual membership costs 2000 riel (approx. $2 Canadian).
• There were approximately 25 new members in 1998-99.
• The collection of the library is for in-house use only.
• The library operates a bindery to repair and preserve materials.

Sample Member Card

Collection & Computers:

• Statistical data, provided by a library employee:
• Books:          approx.           100,000
• Serials:                                            150
• Manuscripts                                  300
• Microforms                                    275
• Cambodiana                                  250
• Audio/visual items                         0

 
• Cambodiana is the only part of the collection that is catalogued electronically, using Isis software.  Collection and preservation of these Khmer language materials, so many of which were lost during the Pol Pot regime, is the primary undertaking of the library.
• Some books in other languages--French, English, Japanese, Thai and Chinese--are available in the library and recorded in the card catalogue.
• In September, 1999, the library owned seven computers, used by staff members in non-public office areas.  As of that date, Internet or email access was not available.

 

The motto of the National Library of Cambodia, posted over the doorway
to the reading room:
"Force binds for a moment, ideas link forever."