On September 15, 1922, by Decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the National Library (Minsk) was created in Belarus, a photo of which can be seen below. She was at a state university, but she served as the main republican reading room. Its first leader was appointed Joseph Bentsianovich Simanovsky, who spent almost forty years as a director.
Development in the 20s of the twentieth century
During its formation, the Minsk library (National) contained only 60 thousand copies of books. They were used by 1.1 thousand readers. The first building that she owned was the Jubilee House, located on Zakharyevskaya Street. In 1926, the number of books in the library increased to 300 thousand, representing the largest collection in various fields of knowledge, especially on the Belarusian science topic. The most frequent visitors were scientists of the BSSR, members of various organizations (party, state, public). Thus, the National Library in Minsk took an active part in the cultural and national formation, the processes of Belarusianization and the formation of the state structure. All this required a change in status. In Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev and Minsk, regional branches were opened, which organized a system of large public libraries in Belarus. In the future, government and regional educational institutions were formed on their basis.
Formation in the 30s
When the library turned ten years old, it was named after V.I. Lenin and given a new building. In it, for the next 70 years, it functioned. Then, the Bibliographic Institute was formed in the building of the institution.
Development in the 40s of the twentieth century
In early 1941, the number of copies increased to 2 million volumes, and the number of users amounted to 15 thousand people. The Second World Wave passed throughout the USSR. Minsk was no exception. The National Library, whose address will be presented below, suspended its work in connection with the hostilities. During the war, it was almost destroyed. Of all the copies, only 320 thousand were saved. In addition, special equipment was destroyed. The building is only partially preserved. The State Library had to be re-created. In the spring of 1945, exported books were partially found in Poland, Hungary, Germany and Czechoslovakia, and in 1947 the number of copies reached the level that was before the war.
Activities in the 50-80s
Over this period, the library stock has increased significantly, and the number of readers has increased. In addition, in these years international relations have developed, organizational changes have occurred, new functions have appeared. In 1962, a new building was issued to the library, which was located on Kirov Street. The problem of lack of space for working with visitors and storage of books was solved. On the 50th anniversary, the Minsk Library (National) was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, which was the highest award of a public and state nature in the Soviet state.
Development in the 90s
After Belarus gained independence and gained state sovereignty, this institution became the main one in the library system of the country. Status change, increasing the level of significance of the cultural and social formation of Belarus and its nation led to the renaming of the reading room. In 1992, it officially became known as the National. After that, a new room was required. A competition was held for the best architectural version of the building. The winner was the project of M.K. Vinogradov and V.V. Kramarenko, who were able to provide a unique combination of functionality and performance - the "Belarusian diamond of knowledge."
Early 2000s
On March 7, 2002, the President of Belarus signed a decree that allowed the construction of a new building for the National Library of the State. The foundation laying of this construction project took place on November 1 of the same year. The new building has all the conditions for storing original book copies, filled with the deep wisdom of civilization, equipped with 20 reading rooms. They differ by some principles: the level of education of the reader, the field of study, the type of documents are taken into account. These halls are located on three floors and can accommodate up to two thousand visitors.
There are electronic departments for issuing documentation, the latest equipment with which you can copy, scan and print. Some places for visitors are equipped with computers. Reading rooms are characterized by increased comfort. Disabled people are provided with all necessary facilities. The windows of the halls are large and bright, with a wonderful view. In the stylobate there are household and administrative-production premises, a conference room equipped for 490 people.
The library of Minsk is a national knowledge base, a valuable object of cultural heritage of the entire nation. These, in particular, include the storage, accumulation and provision for use of universal stocks of documents. They reflect human knowledge and belong to the property of Belarus.
