The ICES library is the central academic facility of the Centre, both in resources and its standing as the repository of knowledge.  The library specializes in social sciences and women’s studies and its strong emphasis is on ethnicity, culture and history. It also has an excellent collection on law, religion, anthropology and fiction.  It is possibly the best in the island on ethnic-related issues.  The book collection (contemporary and rare books), numbering more than 14,000 volumes, 10,000 old monographs, published and unpublished documentation, newspaper clippings, brochures, vertical file material generated by the public/private sectors are located and made available to readers.  The library holdings include material usually unavailable to scholars from the Asian region, especially South Asia.  It is being constantly enriched by additions of the latest books, keeping pace with changing times, to further enhance the quality of ICES activities.

The library plays an important role in all academic activities of ICES.  It provides information support to research working groups, individual Sri Lankan and foreign  researchers, mainly social scientists, documentation centers and libraries of ICES friendly institutes, faculties of universities, Sri Lankan government, and visiting scholars from foreign universities.  Graduate students from Indian universities are encouraged by their professors to consult the ICES library during summer vacations on ethnic related issues.  The ICES library is also accessible to various offices and establishments in the city.   

ICES is now planning to expand the current resources available at the library, for the wider benefit of young university lecturers and research assistants attached to NGOs. .  The desire of providing new clients with greater access to and opportunity for analysis of information has thus far been curtailed, owing to the limited seating available in the library.  The present floor is inadequate to cope with the increasing number of visitors.  There is little prospect for additional space for library purposes in the current  financial commercial area where space for expansion will, inter alia, enable the library users and  staff, have a sense of their own space so that neither intrudes upon the other.  We are convinced that the ICES library should have the strongest visual impact upon entering.  It should be instantly recognizable as an area serving researchers and scholars interested in subjects the library collects and serves through display of newspapers, magazines, etc.  It should definitely be attractive, inviting, and dynamic in appearance and function.  

The library and documentation unit is an important backup to the research work that the Centre carries out but needs to be expanded.  In order to provide faster and efficient services, the unit plans to computerize the entire collection of its holdings.  Presently we have completed, with many a constraint, 35% of the collection.  Computerizing the remaining cataloging and indexing operations will facilitate and expedite the organization of the collection, while enabling greater intensity and depth of indexing along with other documentation processes.

As described by Prof. John Richardson of the American University: “ICES library has been an invaluable resource for me and many other Sri Lankan scholars over the years.”    In order to further enhance its services, to society at large, there is a dire need for expansion at all levels.  As ICES marks the 25th anniversary this year, we hope that this will also pave the way towards the expansion of this wealth of knowledge.