Minister of Mass Communications appraised the development of the Presidential Library

19 June 2013, Minister of Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Nikiforov, who attended the IV meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-Singapore high commission, visited the Presidential Library and praised the development of the center of the latest information technology.

According to the head of the Ministry of Communications, previously he had received a lot of information about the work of the Presidential Library, opened in 2009 in St. Petersburg by order of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Yet what he saw was largely a revelation, because the library is the epitome of the application of technological innovations in culture, education, and other areas of public interest. It is no accident the library immediately received the national status.

Nikolai Nikiforov was presented in detail the operation of the Presidential Library multimedia complex, allowing for conferences, lectures, film screenings, public events involving the Internet audience, video-conferencing with the subjects of the Russian Federation and foreign countries. In the electronic reading room, the Minister learned about the formation of collections, most of which include rare books and unique documents on the history of the Russian statehood, territory of the country, Russian language. The holdings of the library comprise more than 250, 000 units. In four years - since the opening of the Presidential Library - they have increased 8 times. Nikolai Nikiforov noted that the opportunity to get free access to more than a third of materials on the website, as well as the active development of the regional network of electronic reading rooms is an example of accessibility and openness of the first national digital library in the country.

Nikolai Nikiforov was given an electronic library card. "The Presidential Library is an example of development of the new Russia, it works bringing together the latest technologies used in the historical complex of the former Synod in St. Petersburg", said the minister. He discussed the possibility of joint initiatives to develop the information society with Director General of the library, Alexander Vershinin.