National Library of Belarus

In addition to serving as a functional library, the National Library is a city attraction. It is situated in a park on a river bank and has an observation deck looking over Minsk. As of 2009, it is the only structure in Minsk with a public observation deck. The area in front of the library is used for many public concerts and shows.

Construction of the new building started in November 2002 and was completed in January 2006. The library's main architectural component has the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron. The height of the building is 73.6 metres (241.5 feet) and weight is 115 000 tonnes (not including books). The building has 23 floors. The National Library can seat about 2,000 readers and features a 500-seat conference hall. The library's new building was designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened on 16 June 2006. The National Library of Belarus is the main information and cultural centre of the country. Its depository collections include about 10 million items of various media. In 1993 the National Library of Belarus started to create its own electronic information resources. It has generated a collection of bibliographic, factual graphic, full-text, graphic, sound and language databases that comprise more than 2 million records. The scope of databases is quite wide: humanities, social sciences, history, art and culture of Belarus. Library users also have access to databases of other libraries and academic institutions, including foreign ones. The library service is in great demand. More than 90 thousand citizens of Belarus are library users, who annually request 3.5 million documents. Every day the library is visited by more than 2,200 people[citation needed]. The library delivers about 12,000 documents daily.

Further prospects of the National Library are associated with its development as an important institution of national culture and as an information centre oriented towards a wide range of users.

Construction of the new building started in November 2002 and was completed in January 2006. The library's main architectural component has the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron. The height of the building is 73.6 metres (241.5 feet) and weight is 115 000 tonnes (not including books). The building has 23 floors. The National Library can seat about 2,000 readers and features a 500-seat conference hall. The library's new building was designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened on 16 June 2006

Socio-cultural activities are an important and integral part of the Library's functioning. Realizing the functions of a socio-cultural centre, the Library develops the traditions of a world class cultural and educational institution, contributes to the humanization of society. Service to users within the framework of socio-cultural activities is based on using the capabilities of a functionally thought-out infrastructure that ensures the satisfaction of the leisure and cognitive needs of visitors.

Further prospects of the National Library are associated with its development as an important institution of national culture and as an information centre oriented towards a wide range of users.

Today the National Library of Belarus is the largest information and socio-cultural centre of the country. The Library actively generates its own and acquires electronic information resources of the world's largest manufacturers, provides free access to national and world information resources, has the most complete collection of national and foreign documents in the Republic. The collections contain the most representative stock of materials from the UN, UNESCO, World Bank, IAEA in Belarus. The National Library receives and stores documents from the European Union, Council of Europe, OSCE and other international organizations.