Kagoshima Prefectural Library, Prefectural library building in Shiroyama-chō, Kagoshima, Japan.
The Kagoshima Prefectural Library is a public library in Shiroyama-chō, Kagoshima, within the grounds of Tsurumaru Castle. Its current building dates from 1979; the earlier library building was converted into the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum in 1980. A third-floor study room with 366 seats has its own entrance on the west side of the building.
The library began in 1902 as the library of the Kagoshima Prefectural Private Education Association. It was renamed the Private Kagoshima Library in 1909 and transferred to the prefecture in 1912, when the prefectural library was approved. In 1933 the Minister of Education designated it a central library. A new building was completed in 1979, and the old one became the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum in 1980.
The library publishes a monthly newsletter, "Ken-tosho Now.", formed by merging the earlier "Koho Shiroyama" and "Shiroyama Kids" bulletins, and also issues "Sazanami", a journal on parent-child reading research. Its collections include a dialect library and materials on Kagoshima prefectural history. A children's culture room, set apart from the main reading areas, has a play space for small children.
The library sits inside the grounds of Tsurumaru Castle, a five-minute walk from the Shiyakusho-mae tram stop and about ten minutes from the Kinsei-chō bus stop. The third-floor study room, with 366 seats for students from junior high school age up, has its own entrance on the west side of the building rather than the main front door.
The library's 1979 building replaced an earlier structure that was converted into the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum in 1980. From 1958 until 2009 the library also ran a branch on Amami Ōshima in Amami City, which then became the independent Kagoshima Prefectural Amami Library.
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