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Jaffna Public Library

Public library in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Field	Value
library_name	Jaffna Public Library
image	Public Library, Jaffna.JPG
caption	Jaffna Public Library
location	Jaffna, Sri Lanka
coordinates
established
num_branches	6
website
parent_organization	Jaffna Municipal Council

Jaffna Public Library (; ) is located in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is one of Jaffna's most notable landmarks, and is run by the Jaffna Municipal Council. The library was built in 1933 and is Sri Lanka's second main public Library, only rivalled by Colombo Public Library During the early 1980s, it was one of the biggest libraries in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts. In 1981, it was burned down in a deliberate mob attack. Over a million books were burned in the 1981 arson attack, and some ancient Tamil books and manuscripts were never recovered. In 2001, the renovation of the library was completed, with new structures being built and new books received, although its old books and manuscripts were not replaced.

The building's classical lines and beautiful proportions make it stand out architecturally. It contains lush gardens and has been modernized with new facilities added, such as free Wi-Fi in 2016

References

"Jaffna Library".
"Up from the Ashes, a Public Library in Sri Lanka Welcomes New Readers". [[NPR]].
"Fire at Kandy public library". [[BBC News]].
Wilson, A. J. ''Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'', p. 125
Haviland, Charles. (1 November 2010). "Sri Lanka's historic Jaffna library 'vandalised'".
SureshikaThilakarathna. (August 2025). "Free Wi-Fi from today at 26 public locations in Sri Lanka".

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