National Library of Bhutan, National library and archives in Thimphu, Bhutan

The National Library of Bhutan is a national library and archive in the center of Thimphu, housed in an eight-sided, four-story building near the Royal Thimphu Golf Course. The building follows traditional Bhutanese architectural style and contains exhibition rooms with rare texts and historical photographs.

The institution was founded in 1967 under the patronage of Queen Ashi Phuntso Choden and first operated from the central tower of Tashichodzong. It later moved to its current building, which was constructed to accommodate its growing collections and functions.

The library holds a broad collection of Buddhist scriptures and traditional texts from different religious schools found in Bhutan. Walking through the exhibition rooms, visitors notice how closely written knowledge is tied to the spiritual life of the country.

The library stands in the Kawajangtsa area above the Royal Thimphu Golf Course, near the Folk Heritage Museum and the National Institute for Zorig Chusum. The National Archives occupies a two-storey building to the right of the main library, completed in 2004 with temperature and humidity control. The library also runs a free microfilming service for owners of rare Bhutanese texts, returning the original with one microfilm copy.

One of the exhibition rooms displays a copy of what is considered the world's largest published book, titled 'Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom', standing about 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall. Many visitors are surprised to find such an oversized object inside a library.