Sitagu Buddhist Vihara Library
The Dhammaceti ibrary is housed in a dedicated building on the Sitagu Buddhist Vihara campus that was build concurrently with our pagoda and Dhamma hall. It serves primary through its foci on Buddhism, most specifically but not exclusively Theravada Buddhism, and also on Burmese culture. The library also has holdings in other areas such as fiction, current affairs, travel and English as a Second Language. The holdings are primarily in English and Burmese with a number of texts in Pali (using both Burmese and Roman script). The Dhamma Ceti Library is open to the public. We are a lending library and the monastery also supports residential study and class instruction, alongside meditation and other forms of Buddhist practice.
In addition to books the library has media such as CDs and videos for checkout, free pamphlets and books and computer access to Dhamma talks and eBooks and other media available for download. We also support computer research, providing on-line access and free downloads onto your flash drive and makes a copier available for public use. We also maintain a blog at http://sitaguaustinlibrary.wordpress.com/ for the latest in news from the library and reviews of books found in the library.
How to become a member of the Library.
Fill out the membership form available in the library or HERE. Give it to
the librarian or leave it in the checkout box near the
entrance to the library. Your registration will enable the
librarian to contact you concerning an overdue book or a book
that has been ordered or recalled.
Library hours.
For the present these are not firm but there is almost always someone available to provide access to the library when needed. Start by looking for the librarian, Ven. Cintita ("the American monk"), who dwells right across from the library in cabin S-7.How to find a book.
Books are arranged by subject according to the Library of
Congress (LoC) system. LoC numbers are found on the lower
spine of the repective book. Numbers starting with "BQ" are
about Buddhism. Some of the subcategories are marked on
library shelves.
An index is available in hardcopy arranged by author and by
title. Or ask a librarian. If we do not own what you are
looking it you may request that we add it to our wish list.
PLEASE DO NOT RESHELVE BOOKS.
Each book has its own location in the library and might not be
found if it is improperly selved. Leave your browseables on a
table or counter and an expert will do it for you.
How to check books out.
We use an old-time checkout system which will be familiar to older members of the library. Reference books (indicated with "REF" on their spine label) should be used only within the library.
- Remove checkout card from pocket near front of book.
- Fill in your name and the due date (one month from current date).
- Place card in checkout box near entrance to the library.
- Take book home if you like, but try to return it by the due date so that it will be available for other users. We will notify you if the book is overdue.
How to give the gift of Dhamma.
You don't even have to be a monk to give the gift of Dhamma!
We are intent on expanding and enhancing our collection,
eventually to build a world-class library useful for Buddhist
scholarship along with providing for the educational needs of
our general membership, children and adult alike.
Earmarking a financial contribution to the library is one
means of donating. A more personalized donation can be made by
selecting titles from our Wish List, which we continually
update and post in the library and to our BLOG. You might also contribute
books independently of our wish list that you feel might be of
value to the library. Please check our CATALOG to see if we already
own such books. (Generally we try not to acquire more than two
copies of given title, except for very popular books.) Some
particularly significant publishers for general Buddhism and
Theravada Buddhism are:
- Wisdom Publications, a nonprofit distributor of a wide spectrum of well-edited Buddhist books.
- Pariyatti, a nonprofit distributor for the Buddhist Publication Society and the Pali Text Society and others.
We also encourage supporters to donate indirectly by contributing to any of the many publishers of free Dhamma books. Some of the meritorious publishers that have provided books at no cost to our library are: