The Sri Lanka Medical Library (SLML) is a library which was started in 1844 as the Colonial Medical Library. Later the name changed to Ceylon Medical Library and then to Sri Lanka Medical Library. It is the oldest western medical organization in Sri Lanka.
The library still maintains a large collection of very old medical books and journals in their original form. Even today one could see some of the 16th century medical literature in this place. They are in their original print form. In this present era where everything is turning into digital technology it is really surprising that these original material is maintained in their original format. The library is in fact a Museum of Western Medical Practice in Sri Lanka.
According to Ceylon Medical Journal the oldest medical book in the library is a medical book published in 1608. Being the oldest Medical Library in the country it has the best collection of past journals. It has 10,330 bound volumes of periodicals in 225 titles. These include the following series beginning from volume 1: Ceylon Medical Journal from 1887, Ceylon Branch of the British Medical Association from 1904, The Journal of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children 1951, Brain from 1878, Lancet from 1823, Journal of Pathology from 1893, and Practitioner from 1889.[1]