The presidential libraries of Russia and Belarus expand cooperation

On April 2, 2024, the Presidential Library, subordinate to the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation, and the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus entered into a cooperation agreement and also opened a remote access center to the resources of the Presidential Library. The document was signed by Director General of the Presidential Library Yuri Nosov and Director of the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus Sergei Kvachan. The event is dedicated to the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia.

The agreement is aimed at preserving the historical, cultural and scientific heritage of Russia and Belarus, exchanging experience, and implementing joint projects.

Director General of the Presidential Library Yuri Nosov emphasized that “users of the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus will have full access to the collections of the first electronic national library of Russia. Currently, more than 1,600 remote electronic reading rooms of the Presidential Library are open on the territory of the Russian Federation and abroad”. 

The Presidential Library has been actively developing cooperation with institutions of Republic of Belarus since 2010. During this time, remote electronic reading rooms have been opened throughout the republic, providing access to the resources of the Presidential Library. They are based on Russian houses in Minsk, Brest, Gomel, as well as the National Historical Archive of Belarus, the Academy of Management under the President of Republic of Belarus, the Minsk Theological Academy, the National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Nesvizh", the Minsk Theological Seminary, leading libraries of the Republic of Belarus – Pushkin Minsk Regional Library, Gorky Brest Regional Library, Lenin Vitebsk Regional Library, Lenin Mogilev Regional Library, Orsha Centralized Library System, Yanka KupalaCentral Library, Slutsk District Central Library. In addition, since 2019, the Presidential Library has opened an access center to the information retrieval system “ETALON-ONLINE”, developed by the Belarusian National Center for Legal Information.

On April 2, 2024, a remote access center to the resources of the Presidential Library was opened at the National Library of Belarus.

The Presidential Library’s portal features the electronic collection Russia – Belarus: the History of Relations which includes official documents and archival materials, research on Russian-Belarusian interaction.