The Sri Lanka Medical Library is the oldest medical institution in the country. It was established as the Colonial Medical Library on the 1st June 1844, less than 30 years after the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom. Throughout its long history, it has had many vicissitudes as would be expected of an institution which has survived well over a century.

It is a tribute to its resilience and the tenacity of its members, both past and present, that it was able to weather many local, national and even global upheavals during its long course. The necessity of a medical library was felt when local doctors who trained in Calcutta were returning to the country.

The library is independent of the SLMA and is managed by its own committee of management. It is an example of a medical library attached to an autonomous body. The library functions according to a constitution adopted in 1972.