The Presidential Library takes part in the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery

Cooperation between the Presidential Library and the Alexander Nevsky Lavra which celebrates in 2013 the 300th anniversary of foundation will continue. February 11, 2013, the vicar of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra bishop of Vyborg Nazarius visited the Presidential Library. During his meeting with the Presidential Library’s Director General, Alexander Vershinin, the vicar was presented with a library pass. Also, the prospects of future cooperation have been considered. In particular, it will be developed in the area of study of historical experience of relations between the state and the church. The Presidential Library holds a lot of materials and documents on the hagiography of the Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky who was an example of orthodox humbleness and public wisdom. The library’s collections include books about the church reform of Peter the Great and the creation of the Holy Synod that had been located from 1835 in the same premises as the Presidential Library occupies today.

As noted the bishop Nazarius, the central event of the jubilee year will be the international theoretical and practical conference on the history of relations between the state and the church. The facilities of the Presidential Library not only could be used but should be, stressed the vicar of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The history of the Russian statehood cannot be regarded separately from the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, he declared.

It was also decided to continue cooperation with the public library of the monastery that will open this year. At the meeting was discussed a possibility of exchange of materials and documents to be added to the holdings. Taking into account the objective to develop an electronic orthodox library set out by Patriarch Cyril, the specialists of the Lavra’s library have undergone trainings in cataloguing electronic resources at the Presidential Library’s workshops. January 29, on the jubilee year of the monastery, the first Russian digital library presented the monastery’s library with digital copies of rare books on the history of orthodoxy. One of the most valuable editions was a historical research of 1913 “Alexander Nevsky Lavra” by Stepan Runkevich. According to the vicar Nazarius, illustrations and descriptions of this book are most significant for researches. They are used in restoration of the monastery. February 11, a new edition on the history of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra issued during the last century was given over to the Presidential Library for digitization. Converted into digital form, the edition will be available to a wide range of readers.