Library staff from CIS countries visited Presidential Library

On 1 September 2025, a delegation of library representatives from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan visited the Presidential Library.

The event took place on the first day of the annual international professional development programme "Our Libraries. Reading in Russian", aimed at providing methodological support to specialists from Russian-language libraries located abroad. The theme of this year's event was "The library as a place for discussing important issues".

The project participants took a tour of the Presidential Library and learned about the history and architectural features of the Synod building, which was built in the second quarter of the 19th century according to a design by the outstanding architect Karl Rossi. They saw the restored interiors of the Holy Synod, as well as the Column Hall and multimedia transformer hall, equipped with modern technical equipment and designed to host all-Russian and international events.

The main exhibit in the Constitution Hall is the only copy of the inaugural edition of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, presented to the Presidential Library on the day of its opening on 27 May 2009. A special copy of the Constitution for the inauguration is permanently kept in the Presidential Administration in the Kremlin and is used in the inauguration ceremony by all presidents of the Russian Federation.

Representatives of libraries from CIS countries visited the exhibition Memory of Generations: The Great Victory!, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War. It was organised by the Russian Military Historical Society and the Presidential Library. The exhibition shows how modern cultural institutions, as well as public organisations and individuals, preserve the memory of the exploits and events of the war years.

Guests were also introduced to the main activities of the Presidential Library, which is Russia's largest national repository of electronic copies of unique documents on the history of Russian statehood, as well as a multifunctional cultural, educational, scientific, and information and analytical centre with the status of Russia's national library.

The collections of the Presidential Library dedicated to the CIS countries, including Russia – Armenia: the History of Relations, Russia – Belarus: the History of Relations, Russia – Kazakhstan: the History of Relations,  Russia – Kyrgyzstan: the History of Relations, Russia – Mongolia: the History of Relations, Russia – Uzbekistan: the History of Relations, which contain digital copies of documents (books, archival materials, images, cartographic materials) reflecting the history of Russia's relations with these countries.

The international professional development programme "Our Libraries. Read in Russian" has been running since 2023. It was initiated by the Committee for External Relations and supported by the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg. The professional programme is developed and implemented by the V. V. Mayakovsky Central City Public Library with the participation of leading libraries and other cultural institutions of the city.