The inclusion of publishers’ representatives – including the Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association – is recognition that sustainable reading culture requires viable commercial ecosystems, not merely charitable distribution.
Sri Lanka has taken a significant step towards rebuilding its public library infrastructure with the inauguration of a mobile library programme distributing ten fully-equipped vehicles to local government authorities in the Western Province.
The initiative, launched last week under the ‘Arunu Dora’ National Reading Promotion Programme, represents a rare instance of coordinated investment in rural literacy access.
Each vehicle carries 930 volumes and modern facilities, serving the Kesbewa and Seethawakapura Municipal Councils alongside eight Pradeshiya Sabhas. The Western Provincial Council’s Department of Local Government manages the project, funded through the Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat – a body established under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration to address environmental and social renewal.
Context of Library Decline
The programme arrives amid prolonged underinvestment in Sri Lanka’s public library network. According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics data, the country’s public library density remains significantly below regional averages, with rural communities particularly underserved following decades of conflict and economic crisis.
The 1983-2009 civil war devastated cultural infrastructure in the north and east, whilst the 2022 economic collapse forced further cuts to educational services.
Veteran writer Mahinda Prasad Masimbula, addressing the inauguration, highlighted this disconnection between supply and demand: whilst Sri Lanka maintains active publishing output, distribution mechanisms have failed to reach village-level readers.
The mobile model directly addresses this “last mile” problem, adapting a strategy employed successfully in neighbouring India and Bangladesh where rural literacy rates have improved through comparable initiatives.
Political and Cultural Significance
The ceremony’s rhetoric revealed the programme’s dual purpose. Western Province Governor Hanif Yusoof drew explicit connection between reading and resilience, recounting how books sustained him during the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms.
Presidential Secretary Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake framed the initiative within broader nation-building discourse, emphasising “values-driven” education as counterweight to social turbulence.
This positioning reflects the current administration’s efforts to distinguish its cultural policy from predecessor regimes. The inclusion of publishers’ representatives – including the Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association – is recognition that sustainable reading culture requires viable commercial ecosystems, not merely charitable distribution.
Operational Challenges Ahead
Phase one covers ten of 25 local authorities in the Western Province alone. Expansion to national scale, as proposed by Kumanayake, would require substantial additional funding and coordination with the National Library and Documentation Services Board.
The partnership with LB Finance and the Sri Lanka Scout Association demonstrates mixed-economy approach typical of Sri Lankan public service delivery, though long-term sustainability remains unaddressed in official statements.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
