Inside the government-in-exile compound, nearly 2km downhill from the Tsuglagkhang complex, the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives began life as a repository for sacred manuscripts saved from the Cultural Revolution. Today it has over 120,000 manuscripts and books in Tibetan, and more than 15,000 books on Tibet, Buddhism and the Himalayan region in English and other languages.
Upstairs is an interesting cultural museum with statues, old Tibetan artefacts and books, and a couple of complex 3D mandalas in wood and sand.
Regular library visitors can become temporary members (₹100 per month for reading; ₹300 per month plus ₹1000 deposit for borrowing; passport photocopy needed for ID) to access the foreign-language collection.