National Library extension begins

After attending a foundation stone laying ceremony for the new building, Kriengkrai said it would add more than 10,000 square metres of space to the library.

Development plans for the library comprise this new building; an IT system under which the government's "Thai Khem Kaeng Policy" would provide Bt138 million for an Intranet system within the new building; and human resource development.

Although visitor numbers to the library have declined during the facility's restoration, the number of users of the library's Intranet system has grown this year to about 1.5 million. When restoration's complete in 2011, library user numbers are expected to be about two million, he said.