Public Libraries in Sarawak

In Sarawak, the public library services are provided by government agencies such as the twenty five local authorities under the purview of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development (MLGCD); the Commission of the City of Kuching North (DBKU), the Bintulu Development Authority, and the MLGCD itself.

Brief History

During the White Rajah era right up to the British rule under the Crown Colony of Sarawak, the library services were in the form subscribed services catering for the needs of the government officers and expectorates. There was also book box services, where books were packed in boxes and sent to sub-urban and rural areas for the officers serving there. In the 1950s and 1960s, the British Council played a major roles in providing library services in Kuching.

In 1970, the then Ministry of Local Government of Sarawak established the Library Division to coordinate the library development in Sarawak. By this time the local authorities in Sarawak were mandated to provide public library services in their ares of administration. Being the central agency in administrating the library development in Sarawak, the Library Division assumed the roles and functions of a state library. Rightly so, it was later called the Sarawak State Library.

With the passing of the Sarawak State Library Ordinance in 1999, the Library Division ceased the roles of the Sarawak State Library and Pustaka Negeri Sarawak officially becomes the State Library.