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Universities' Central Library

Coordinates: 16°49′50″N 96°08′10″E / 16.83056°N 96.13611°E / 16.83056; 96.13611
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Universities' Central Library
တက္ကသိုလ်များဗဟိုစာကြည့်တိုက်
Map
16°49′50″N 96°08′10″E / 16.83056°N 96.13611°E / 16.83056; 96.13611
LocationUniversity of Yangon, Kamayut Township, Yangon,  Myanmar
TypeAcademic
Established1929; 95 years ago (1929)
Architect(s)Kin Maung Lwin
Collection
Items collected
Size600,000 books,
15,000 palm-leaf manuscripts,
4,000 parabaiks
Other information
Parent organizationMinistry of Education (Myanmar)
Websitewww.uclmyanmar.org

The Universities' Central Library (Burmese: တက္ကသိုလ်များဗဟိုစာကြည့်တိုက်; abbreviated UCL) is an academic library located on the University of Yangon campus in Yangon, Myanmar.[1][2] UCL is Myanmar's biggest academic library and plays a pivotal role in collecting and preserving historical Burmese manuscripts.[3] UCL has the largest collection of traditional manuscripts in the country, including 15,000 palm-leaf manuscripts and 4,000 parabaiks.[1] The library possesses 600,000 books.[4]

History

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In 1929, the Rangoon University Library was established as a research and reference library.[5] During World War II, the library building and rare manuscript collections were destroyed, and the library re-opened in 1952.[1][6] In 1964, the library was renamed the Universities' Central Library.[5] UCL began collecting parabaiks in 1964.[1]

In 1973, a modern replacement building to house the library was designed by Kin Maung Lwin, slated for completion in early 1975.[4] The 1974 U Thant funeral crisis at the university delayed construction, which was finally completed in 1980.[4][5] In 1987, the Yangon University Library was established in UCL's old premises.[1]

Prominent Burmese scholar, Thaw Kaung served as UCL's chief librarian from 1969 to 1997.[7][8]

In 2016, it co-founded the Myanmar Academic Library Consortium to foster collaboration among academic libraries in the country.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "The Documentary heritage of Myanmar: selected case studies". UNESCO. 2018. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  2. ^ "Reading Mandalay's Newspapers". University of Toronto. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. ^ "How information access is changing the biggest academic library in Myanmar". Research4Life. 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  4. ^ a b c "Universities' Central Library – Architectural Guide: Yangon". Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  5. ^ a b c "About Us". Universities' Central Library. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  6. ^ Wiegand, Wayne A.; Davis, Donald G. Jr (2015-01-28). Encyclopedia of Library History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-78757-8.
  7. ^ "Dr. Thaw Kaung Collection". Universities' Central Library. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  8. ^ "Profile | Librarian-Scholar Took the Road Less Traveled By". The Irrawaddy. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  9. ^ "The Myanmar Academic Library Consortium is born". EIFL. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
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