National Library participates in int'l congress in Belarus

The 11th International Congress themed "Library as a Cultural Phenomenon" has started in Minsk, Belarus, Azernews reports.

The event is timed to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders.

Azerbaijan is represented at the congress by Deputy Director for Scientific Work and Library and Information Service at the Azerbaijan National Library Adiba Ismayilova.

Adiba Ismayilova made a report and presentation on the topic "Propaganda of our national musical heritage in the digital era".

She spoke about the centuries-old path of development of Azerbaijani music, which has deep roots, valuable rarities of the national musical art stored in the archival fund of the National Library, a unique sound recording fund, a golden fund of scores of Azerbaijani composers, as well as projects to preserve and promote our national musical heritage in the digital era.

The congress, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and the National Library of Belarus with the support of the Belarusian Library Association and the Interstate Fund of the CIS countries has brought together the heads and representatives of national, state and other leading libraries, as well as employees of libraries, publishing houses, archives and museums, educational institutions, and research institutes of Belarus.

Azerbaijan National Library is a treasure trove of knowledge for bookworms.

With over 5 million books, manuscripts, and maps, the Azerbaijan National Library is considered one of the largest libraries in the Caucasus region. Since 1939, the library has borne the name of the eminent playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

The library has an extensive collection of literature in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, and other languages. It has collected and preserved national editions, works of Azerbaijani and foreign authors about Azerbaijan published abroad.

The National Leader, Heydar Aliyev, visited the National Library four times in 1995-1997 and donated nearly 300 books from his personal library.

In 2004, the Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library was granted the status of a national library by the decision of Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers.

The building of the library is no less impressive. The library's fa?ade is decorated with the statues of eminent poets and writers like Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Shota Rustaveli, Alexander Pushkin and many others.

The scope of the library's activities is constantly expanding. In 2005, on the basis of legal copies received from publishing houses and printing companies, the library published the yearbook "Books of Azerbaijan" for 1990, 1991, 2000, and 2001.

Over the past years, the National Library has signed a memorandum on bilateral mutual cooperation with about 80 libraries.

In 2021, the Culture Ministry and Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library launched a joint campaign, "Let's go to Garabagh with a book", to restore libraries in the Garabagh region.

A large number of books were donated to the Garabagh Book Fund by a number of international organizations working in the field of culture, Turkic-speaking countries, famous foreign and local authors, publishers, and print houses.