Not everything in this picture book country is worth a visit (National Library of Bhutan (Thimphu))

Member Name: koshkha

Product:	National Library of Bhutan (Thimphu)
Date:	28/03/09 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It doesn't take long to see.........

Disadvantages: ....which is a nice way of saying there's not much to see

There are lots of things to see and do in Thimphu but visiting the National Library is one stop you can easily miss without your trip being any the poorer. I think it's a fair guess that most visitors dont open their guidebook and think "Wow, I must make sure not to miss going to the library" whereas the companies who organise tours are probably rubbing their hands together at the thought of somewhere they can take you that won't cost a penny.

To be honest, from the moment we stepped through the doors of the old library building until we left the new library, I was puzzled about what the point of going had been. If you came to visit the village where I live with its population of 10,000 inhabitants, a row of shops, a Saxon church of spectacular significance and a park based around the reservoir, I could probably show you a better time going round the village library than you'll get in Thimphu. At least we've got a coffee shop and an office where you can interrogate the assistant about local planning applications.

Maybe that's a little harsh - there are undoubtedly some fascinating artefacts in the National Library, but unless you speak the local language and know how to read ancient Buddhist texts, you'll probably wander round like I did, almost totally clueless. It didn't help of course that we'd done a major climb to the Tiger's Nest monastery the day before and the last thing my legs needed were lots of steps, but even in my sprightliest and brightest of moods I would have struggled to get excited in the library. After all, it's just not the 'done' thing to GET excited in libraries.

The library was founded in 1967 as a repository for storing and preserving ancient and important texts in the local language and in obscure Buddhist languages such as Chos skad (I kid you not; I really didn't make that up). The collection has now outgrown its original home and a new building has been built next door. At the time of our visit, the library workers were in the process of moving a large part of the collection from one library to the other in large plastic boxes. The 'highlight' (if that's not too excited a word to use) of the older library building was a copy of the world's biggest book. It must be true - it's in the Guinness Book of World Records and it's a giant picture book of photos of Bhutan.

The new library building contains some books that are slightly more accessible to the browsing tourist - a collection of books from around the world which are about the Himalaya, Bhutan specifically, or Buddhism more generally. I had a browse at a few, took heed of the instructions to not try to re-shelve them and abandoned a few nice books on random tables for someone to put away. Job creation Bhutan-style.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting - not the British Library with its copyright library status ensuring a copy of every single book or magazine ever published. But I couldn't help thinking they might have found a bit more to tempt or intrigue a visitor. What else can I tell you? The staff seemed pleasant, nobody told us to shhhhhhh and the toilets were very clean and modern.

Try not to slam the door on your way out......

Summary: If you miss this, you won't miss out.