Facilities                   Established      Administration & Staffing
          Membership & Services                            Collection & Computers
 
 

Facilities: Main building, a traditional Thai pagoda-roof design,  has four floors. Five additional smaller buildings house special collections. 17 branches throughout Thailand are under the administration of the National Library. Large central foyer with marble floor featured an exhibition of the accomplishments of the King of Thailand and a display of covers of his books. Established: 12 October 1905 by royal decree.

Administration & Staffing: Director:  Mrs. Suwkhon Siriwongwarawat, a graduate of the University of Bangkok, who has created a website providing historical and current information about the National Library. According to the director, there are 350 employees at the Main Branch, including: 79 professional librarians 49 para-professionals computer programmers, system operator, accountant, public relations experts

 

Membership & Services: The National Library of Thailand acts as "National" and "public"  libraries at the same time. It acquires, preserves, and registers all forms of national intellectual heritage for the consultation of  the Thai people. Coordinates libraries in Thailand with the hope of providing a fully automated information network.

Open to the public from 930 to 1930 daily except on National Holidays. Materials are for in-house use only. As of March 15th, 1999, to increase revenue, user fees were implemented. 10 baht (approx. 40 cents Canadian) for a one-day pass 40 baht for a one-year pass. (Photo ID cards issued). Current membership is more than 500,000. Publishes a National Bibliography. Acts as an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) registry. Operates a bindery to repair, re-bind and preserve books.

Collection & Computers: Statistical data:  Books, approx.:              2,145,000 Serials & newspapers           2,500 Manuscripts                          20,000 Microforms                               5,000 Maps                                          69,000 Photographs                           22,000 Audio/visual items              69,000 (from National Library of Thailand,  undated document)

Collection includes dissertations and manuscripts, and special collections of music, rare books, and memorabilia which is on display in beautiful wood- and glass-fronted cabinets. Items include walking sticks, statues of Buddha, articles of clothing and first editions of books--all items that belonged to a famous Thai patron of the arts and of the library.

Sculptures of elephants "guard" the entrance to special collections, and other art objects are located throughout the building.

Some foreign language materials--mostly manuscripts from other countries in South-east Asia--are included in the collection. Limited number of items in European languages.

There is a small Fiction collection, housed in Dewey 800s.

A computer lab with 20 work stations has recently been added, to access the library catalogue and CD-ROMs. As of Sept., 1999, the conversion to an electronic catalogue (using Dynix) had not been completed; access to the catalogue was primarily through the card catalogue.

One computer was available for free Internet use to members, with plans to expand to four-six stations.