The Presidential Library’s thematic years will coincide with those declared in Russia

The Presidential Library will develop the national electronic collections of documents on all aspects of the history of the country in accordance with the subjects-matter defined by the state.

According to the Director General of the Presidential Library, Alexander Vershinin, the last four years were associated with the formation of the fundamental basis of the electronic repository of materials on the history of Russian statehood. All this time, the library was digitizing documents, books, microfilms and other materials that composed four basic collections revealing the concept of nationhood. A year of work was devoted to every theme, including digitization, acquisition and holding of events on the subject of the collections. The theme of 2010 was "The Territory of Russia," in 2011 - "The State Power", in 2012 - "The Russian People." This year theme is "Russian Language". The official start will be given in September, but the collection of the same name has already been formed.

In addition, each year the state designates the subject of the calendar year. Now that the fundamental collections are ready, the Presidential Library will follow the subject-matter of each year as determined by the state to build up its collections. Thus, the upcoming calendar year will be devoted to Russian culture. The following year, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, will be announced the Year of support for veterans.

The Presidential Library has already begun to prepare for participation in the upcoming large celebration of the Great Victory. Modern scanning complexes of the library in St. Petersburg and its regional offices are used for digitization of materials about the Great Patriotic War. Not so long ago, the library acquired a selection of the oldest military newspaper "Defending the Motherland" issued in 1941-1945; the institution also plans to digitize chronicles of fleet battles, about 100 military maps, thousands of archival photographs of the wartime, as well as declassified materials from the Russian departmental archives.