The Nepali book collection has gradually been built up over the past 40 years, since the establishment of the Nepal National Library. Almost 50% of the collection comprises Nepali literary works, including poetry, drama, essays, short stories, and novels. Of the other subjects covered, the social sciences are most strongly represented, followed by history, biography, religion and language. The collection, which is on open access, is classified by the Dewey Decimal Classification, and author, title and subject indexing is provided by the card catalogue and there is also OPAC facility.