SAKYA COLLEGE

The Gorum library had already existed at Sakya College; however, due to the increasing quantity and quality of scriptures and texts, the old library was becoming insufficient in capacity to accommodate them all. Moreover, there were growing concerns about the stability of the old building under the weight of the numerous texts and scriptures it held. Consequently, the need for a new library building became imperative. On January 24th, 2013, His Holiness Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche performed a Bhumi blessing and laid the foundation stone. His Holiness graciously appended the name “Sungrab Gyatso Ling” to the existing name of the old library, thus giving it the full name, Gorum Sungrab Gyatso Ling Library. The construction of the library was completed in 2015.

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The new library is adorned with full sets of Kangyurs and Tengyurs, which contain the words of the Buddha Śākyāmuni. Additionally, it houses hundreds of texts and commentaries on Buddhist philosophical studies from various sects, as well as multilingual texts on grammatologies, historiographies, hagiographies, theologies, poetries, philologies, and other Buddhism-related genres. This extensive collection, numbering more than ten thousand, serves not only the daily needs of traditional academia students but also holds value for modern researchers.

Moreover, the library features a separate multimedia archive room with audio cassettes, CD recordings, and other audio/video formats preserving teachings from past and present teachers. A computer lab is also available for researchers and students to conduct online research, teaching, access texts and scriptures, as well as perform photocopying and scanning tasks. Additionally, there is an auditorium for hosting scholarly discussions and intensive programs, along with isolated seating areas equipped with modern facilities, meeting the standards found in international universities.