2798 dated 8 November 1884 of the lieutenant governor of the Punjab, in the Home General Department.

[2][3] The library began operations in the Baradari Wazir Khan, an imperial building built by Nawab Wazir Khan, the governor of Lahore, during Emperor Shahjahan’s reign with the assistance of the government of the Punjab.

A block housing the auditorium and Bait-ul-Quran section was constructed in 1968 and inaugurated by General Mohammad Musa, then governor of West Pakistan.

The library holds a collection of books in all fields of knowledge in English, Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Punjabi.

The library receives 170 magazines, 24 journals by subscription and the rest as free copies.

Books are accessioned here, payments are made and the material is then sent to the technical section for processing.

It contains reference works such as encyclopaedias, dictionaries, yearbooks, directories, almanacs, atlases, gazetteers, etc.

The section serves its readers by providing census reports, patents and designs, and back numbers of English magazines.

The Bait-ul-Quran This section of the library was established in 1968 by Mukhtar Masood, then commissioner of the Lahore Division, and inaugurated by then governor of West Pakistan, General Muhammad Musa.

A mural painting by an artist of Pakistan, Shakir Ali, depicts Quranic Ayats in fine calligraphy and decorates the section.

The building has now fallen short of its requirements with respect to additional books and the increasing number of readers.

A catalogue of the books in the library has been computerized and readers have been provided browsing facility on computers.

An LCD TV has been provided in the section by courtesy of the Punjab Library Foundation.

Dr. Mumtaz Hassan, a scholar and governor, State Bank of Pakistan, donated about 9,000 volumes to the library in the memory of his daughter, Riffat Sultana.

As soon as a book which has been reserved is received back in the library, the borrower is informed of its availability.