Introduction Print

It is a matter of great privilege for the Punjab Assembly Library as it is considered one of the oldest Parliamentary Library in the country which was established in 1921. Being a specialized Library, it has a treasure of nearly 60,000 books of the following:-

•  A rich collection of Encyclopedias, including Electronic Multi Media Encyclopedias i.e. (CDs).
• The users of the library travel to different parts of the world through the books which enable them to quench their thirst of knowledge. Therefore, Punjab Assembly has not only the proceedings of Senate, National Assembly of Pakistan, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan Provincial Assemblies but also has the collection of proceedings of different Assemblies of the world i.e. Proceedings of Indian State Assemblies, Legislative Assembly of India, (Pre-independence period), Indian Lok Sabha, House of Commons, House of Lords and US Congress. So, the available material in the library is an affluent helping source for the legislators to participate actively in the legislative process.
• Punjab Assembly Library has not only the books but also supports its users through video films of proceedings of various Parliaments of the world so that the legislators who are the main users of the Parliamentary Library including the students/researchers of different universities can be acquainted with the parliamentary traditions of different democracies of the world.
• This library is a parliamentary library still it has a remarkable collection of books on different topics including History, Politics, Law and Islam etc.
• As this is an age of IT which has converted the world into a global village, therefore, the library is also providing Internet facility to the Members of the Punjab Assembly so that they can get themselves benefitedfrom e-libraries as well as can consult the bulk informative material available through Internet.

In the past, the Punjab Assembly library was one of the users of LAMP software which was especially designed for the libraries. Now with the advancement in the field of IT, the Library uses KOHA Software for cataloging and search of books. Punjab Assembly library catalogue is also available on www.library.pap.gov.pk A book can be searched by Accession No, Classification No (DDC), Author, Title, Subject, International Standard Book Number or any word.

The useful links of other Parliamentary libraries of Pakistan is also available:

• Senate of Pakistan Library
• National Assembly of Pakistan Library
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly Library
• Baluchistan Provincial Assembly Library
• Sindh Provincial Assembly Library

Punjab Assembly library is also a step ahead from other libraries of provincial assemblies as it had made efforts to preserve the old and precious record through microfilming. To cope with the challenges of the modern IT requirements, the Punjab Assembly library has successfully converted this process from microfilming into scanning to preserve the valuable collection of antique books, debates and some other important documents.

Official Timings

From Monday to Friday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. In Session days from Monday to Friday: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Saturday to Sunday: 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. In the case of evening Session library remains open till the adjournment of the Session.

Special Collection

The following materials have some importance in the library:-

Debates:

Gazette:

 Budget:

Laws:

Periodicals and Newspapers

The following periodicals and newspapers are being purchased by the Library:-

Periodicals

• Time
• Newsweek
• Reader’s Digest
• The Friday Times

Newspapers

• Daily “Dawn”
• Daily “The Nation”
• Daily “The News”
• Daily “Jang”
• Daily “Nawa-e-Waqt”
• Daily “Pakistan”
• Daily “Khabrain”
• Daily “Din”
• Daily “Express”
• Daily “Ausaf”