The library of the American Institute for Lankan Studies in Colombo is open to AISLS members, other researchers, and students. There is no charge for Sri Lankan nationals who live in Sri Lanka. Citizens of other countries, and Sri Lankans based overseas, will normally be required to join AISLS if they want to use the library on more than two or three occasions.
The core of its collection of more than 1,500 books covers academic works on Sri Lanka in the humanities and social sciences, but the library also holds other volumes useful for the study of Sri Lanka, including theoretical works and comparative studies, particularly from other parts of the South Asian and Indian Ocean regions. Its coverage is most comprehensive in History, Anthropology, Religious Studies and Politics, but other disciplines also have good coverage. A large majority of the holdings are in English, but there are some works in other languages, especially Sinhala. The collection also includes dictionaries, reference books and language instruction materials for Tamil, Sinhala and Pali.
Books cannot be borrowed. They must be consulted on the premises, but photocopying facilities are available. One of the two reading rooms has air conditioning. The up-to-date online catalogue provides for searches by keyword, author, and title, so it is very easy for patrons to check to see if the collection includes a particular book.
The library subscribes to JSTOR, which provides full-text access to a large number of international journals in all disciplines. JSTOR can only be used on the premises. The library staff is able to provide instruction in JSTOR’s use. For some topics, we may also be able to direct patrons to other freely available online resources. We also maintain a list of a selection of online indexes, bibliographies and digital libraries.
For many topics, there are specialist libraries in Sri Lanka that provide more comprehensive coverage than is available in our collection. Nineteen of these libraries are covered in our Guide to Research Libraries in Sri Lanka.
The library is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It is closed on all Sri Lankan holidays. There are also annual closures of around one week around Christmas and the Sinhala & Tamil New Year.
