Description:
The National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB), established in the
year 1970, is a statutory body functioning under the provisions of the National
Library and Documentation Services Board Act No. 17 of 1970 (as amended by the
National Library and Documentation Services Board Act No 51 of 1998). It falls under
the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education. The main statutory
functions of the NLDSB are the maintenance of the National Library of Sri Lanka and
the development of library and information services at the national level.
In response to the need for better preservation and dissemination of library
resources, the NLDSB commenced the digitization of printed information sources
available with ‘The National Library’ around the year 2000. The collection of new
digital information sources was also initiated. With the gradual progress of
‘digitization activities’ and taking the concept of ‘digital library’ into consideration,
the ‘National Digital Library’ of the NLDSB was inaugurated in the year 2016. A
specialized unit named ‘Digital Library Unit’ was also administratively established
within the NLDSB to carry out the mandate of the ‘National Digital Library.’ The
National Digital Library has been re-named as the National Digital Library &
Repository from the year 2020.