On 15th July 1924, the present Siri Vajirarama library building at Vajira Road, Bambalapitiya was opened. Venerable Pelene Vajiranana Mahanayaka Thera invited Cecil Clement, Colonial Secretary of Ceylon for the above inauguration ceremony. The building was donated by G.J. de Silva and James Peiris with 2000 books and two rooms for two resident monks. Venerable Pelene Mahanayaka Thera was himself a great scholar and encouraged his pupil monks to follow his path. Most of his pupil monks, in later times, became well known both nationally and internationally. Among them were the following renowned theras: (1) Narada, (2) Kaburugamuwe Mahanama, (3) Denipitiye Sumanasiri, (4) Madihe Pannasiha, (5) Piyadassi, (6) Ampitiye Rahula, (7) Soma Kassapa, (8) Kheminda and (9) Metteyya,. They were prolific users of this library. It may also be noted that Prof. Gunapala Malalasekara, Sir D.B. Jayatilake and W.A. Silva were among the first generation of Vajirarama library users. In the 1950s, among the second generation users were Olcott Gunasekera, K.D.G. Wimalaratne and D.C. Ranatunga. In short, this library helped not only the Sangha students of Venerable Pelene Vajiranana Mahanayaka Thera but also laymen in their studies and research. At that time, this was one of the best oriental libraries in Sri Lanka with a large collection of Pali, Sanskrit, Burmese, Sinhala and English books on Buddhism as well as on other related subjects. At present the library has 8000 books and 210 Ola books, some of which are very rare.
