A handover ceremony for the newly constructed National Library of Laos was held on 29 December 2016 between the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and Chitchareune Construction.
Construction of the new national library began in 2013, and was expected to be complete by mid-2015. Due to delays, it has only now been finished.
Aside from the library itself, the complex includes a conference room, working rooms, research room, and reading rooms. The building is fully equipped with CCTV, fire alarms, and internet infrastructure.
The new National Library of Laos is located behind the Kaysone Phomvihane Museum, in Sivilay Village, Vientiane Capital.
The Fate of the Original National Library of Laos Building
Both the original national library building and the Lao national museum are slated for redevelopment, according to a 2013 article by the Vientiane Times. The article goes on to say that the buildings which house the existing library and museum are no longer adequate to store the expanding collections they contain, so the ministry proposed that new premises be built in a more suitable location.
Under the terms of an agreement with developer Chitchareune Construction, the ministry will give the existing downtown library to the contractor for redevelopment purposes.
The original National Library of Laos was established in 1956. The library resources were first stored inside part of another ministry, before being moved to the library’s independent location on Setthathirath Road.
One of the library’s most famous achievements was creating the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts, in collaboration with the Berlin State Library.
