As part of agreements to join ASEAN, the government has committed to improvements, but can it bring the National Library into the 21st century?

Approaching Cambodia’s National Library is an impressive reminder of the beauty of Phnom Penh’s architectural heritage. Built on a large patch of land to the west of Wat Phnom, where it backs onto the well-preserved National Archives, it is accessed via a grand stretch of stairs flanked by columns and statues. To the right of the doorway, “Force ties for a while, ideas bind forever” is emblazoned on the yellow facade – the motto chosen by the French Protectorate when it opened the library in 1924.

But once inside the building, the impression of grandeur quickly fades. Fans on the high-ceiling turn slowly, struggling to cool the handful of readers sitting at the long tables. Disorderly piles of books are propped up next to the receptionist’s desk, whose see-through donations box is thinly carpeted by small change. On the library’s shelves, books are inked with the insignias of the Cambodia’s eclectic benefactors: some commemorate anniversaries of Filipino-Cambodian diplomatic relations; others come from “Japan relief for Cambodia”; many more are stamped with the badge of the US Army. In the “Waiting to be Shelved” section of the library, a biography of Hillary Clinton shows the then-youthful politician wearing a powder blue power suit – a 1998 donation from Books for Asia.

The first available record of visitors to the library is from 1928, which recorded 9,698 visitors to the reading room in the previous year. Today, library director Khlot Vibolla thinks the number is about half that, estimating the combined tally of readers and borrowers to be about 4,800 per year.

Read more at: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/once-grand-symbol-longing-be-saved