Central Library, Goa

The State Central Library Goa is under the administrative control of Government of Goa, Directorate of Art & Culture and Curator is the Head of State Central Library.The Central Library is the oldest Public Library in India. It was established on 15th September 1832 by Vice Roy Dom Manuel de Portugal e Castro as ‘Publica Livraria.’ It had a beginning as ‘Academia Militar de Goa’ (Military Training Institute). September 1959, the Bibliotheca was detached from the Institute and put under the administrative control of ‘Servicos de Instruccao e Saude’ (Education and Health Services); it was then renamed as Biblioteca Nacional de Goa. The collection of pre-liberation period consists mainly of Books and Journals in Portuguese, French, Latin, English and very few books in local language like Konkani and Marathi. The total pre-liberation collection was about 40,000 volumes.