National Library and Archives of Bhutan (NLAB)

Overview

The National Library and Archives of Bhutan (NLAB), known in Dzongkha as Druk Gyelyong Pedzö, is located in the Kawajangtsa area of Thimphu, above the Royal Thimphu Golf Course. It serves as the central agency for the preservation, protection, and promotion of Bhutan's literary and scriptural heritage.

History

The library was established in 1967 under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Ashi Phuntsho Choden (1911-2003), beginning with a small collection of precious texts housed within the central tower (utse) of Trashichhodzong. As the collection grew, it moved to a building in the Changangkha area of Thimphu. To provide a permanent, spiritually appropriate home for its predominantly religious collection, the government, under then-Home Minister Lyonpo Tamzhing Jagar, constructed the library's present four-storied, eight-cornered traditional building, designed to resemble the central tower temple of a Bhutanese Dzong, at a cost of about Nu. 3 million borne entirely by the Royal Government of Bhutan without foreign aid. The building was inaugurated by then-Minister for Communications and Tourism Lyonpo Sangye Penjor and consecrated as a temple by H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche on November 23, 1984, and the library moved into this permanent home at the end of that year. Bhutan's Legal Deposit Act, enacted July 20, 1999, established the legal framework for collecting and preserving the country's print, non-print, electronic, and audiovisual documentary heritage.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The library holds one of the largest collections of Buddhist literature in the world, including roughly 6,100 Bhutanese and Tibetan books, xylographs, and manuscripts, along with about 9,000 wooden printing blocks for religious texts. Its archives hold historical records, letters, and roughly 7,000 photographs, alongside microfilm copies of other documents. Digitization of the collection, carried out through a Danida Twinning Project launched in 1996 with the Royal Library of Denmark, produced an online database of 13,625 searchable volumes and about 120,000 records, completed in 2010.

Access and Usage

The National Library offers a free microfilming service to institutions and individuals within Bhutan holding important or rare texts and documents, and provides research and consultation services on library and archival standards. As an active publisher, NLAB produces traditional pecha and Western-format books in English and Dzongkha, and maintains three shrines within its main building, which is treated as a sacred space where visitors are asked to refrain from loud talking, smoking, and touching the shrines.