National Library of Belarus Celebrates 20th Anniversary

The National Library of Belarus is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The project was developed by Belarusian architects Viktor Kramarenko and Mikhail Vinogradov. Over 130 organizations and enterprises, along with 5,000 specialists, helped create the unique building, with assistance from students as well. 3.5 billion rubles were allocated from the state budget. In addition to state and voluntary contributions, citizens from other countries also contributed to the construction—$500,000 was received from Iraq. The library's collection includes over 4.7 million books, more than 70,000 manuscripts, old printed and rare editions, 1.5 million foreign publications, over 5,000 newspaper titles, more than 30,000 audiovisual documents, over 122,000 microform documents, and 463,000 digitized documents. Users have access to 140 global library databases. On June 16, 2006, after more than three years of construction, the Belarusian 'Diamond of Knowledge' opened its doors to the public.