State Central Library, Kerala

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

 * 1) Technical Section
 * 2) Circulation Section (Books & Periodicals)
 * 3) English Section
 * 4) Malayalam Section
 * 5) Hindi / Sanskrit Section
 * 6) Reference Section
 * 7) Children's Section
 * 8) Binding Section
 * 9) Reprographic Section
 * 10) Closed Reference Section
 * 11) Member's Reading Room (For A & B Member's only)
 * 12) General Reading Room (For C & D Member's & Non Member's)
 * 13) Cash Section
 * 14) Library Office
 * 15) Internet Browsing Centre
 * 16) Kerala Gazette Section
 * 17) Multimedia Section
 * 18) Digital Library
 * 19) British Library Collection
 * 20) 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.