National Library of Tajikistan

 The National Library of Tajikistan was founded in 1933 on the basis of the library of the city of Stalinabad, the capital of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, and a year later it was named after the great poet Ferdowsi. In 1993, the State Library of the Republic of Tajikistan named after Ferdowsi received the title of "National Library". The opening ceremony of the new building of the "National Library of Tajikistan" affiliated with the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan was held on March 20, 2012, on the eve of the international celebration of Nowruz, in the presence of Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan. The new nine-story building of this library is built in the form of an "open book" and meets modern international standards. Its length is 167 meters, its height is 52 meters and it consists of four sections: section "A" has 9 floors with a basement, sections "B" and "C" each have 6 floors with a basement, and section "D" has 4 floors. The total area of the library building is 44,078 square meters. The central facade of the building is decorated with 22 busts of prominent scientists and writers. The National Library of Tajikistan is a state institution for the preservation of cultural heritage, the storage of documents and archives of the national press, as well as a scientific-research, information and cultural center. The library is responsible for the development of library science, bibliography, cataloging and the use of modern information technologies. The National Library is the largest repository of manuscripts, printed publications and printed literary works in the Republic of Tajikistan and, in terms of its functions and functions, is aligned with the main UNESCO standards for national libraries. The library publishes various scientific, reference and advisory bibliographic publications. Annual calendars of historical and memorable events of Tajikistan are widely used. Sociological research is also carried out on the development of the public library network, the number of readers visiting rural libraries, and the state of national bibliography. The National Library of Tajikistan is one of the important achievements of the Tajik nation. The library's collection contains the works of great figures of Persian and Tajik literature, including Ibn Moqfa', Tabari, Rudaki, Ferdowsi, Biruni, Avicenna, Khayyam, Rumi, Jami, Ahmad Danesh, Sadr al-Din Aini, Babajan Ghafurov, Mirza Tursunzadeh and others. The library's collection is constantly enriched with scientific and literary works of contemporary writers and poets of the country, and the number of scientific publications in the Tajik language has also increased. All institutions, organizations, companies, as well as all citizens of the republic, regardless of nationality, race, gender, language, religious beliefs, political views, social status or level of wealth, can benefit from the library's services. Every year, the library organizes about 150 different events for the general public and experts: including conferences, seminars, round tables, literary evenings, book exhibitions, information days, days of free visits and book presentations. The main structure of the library includes 36 specialized departments and 4 centers, in which more than 400 experts work in total. The library has 27 reading halls with 1500 seats and 274 computer workstations. For conferences and symposiums, there are 9 halls with a capacity of 1200 people and 3 book exhibitions: The Book Museum for displaying manuscripts and rare books, The Book Gallery for holding scientific and educational exhibitions in various fields. The library has a "New Books Hall" where the latest works are displayed, including books, newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are updated every day, magazines are updated according to the publication period (monthly or quarterly), and books are updated according to new purchases. The library is a scientific and methodological center for libraries throughout the country and provides regional libraries with advisory and technical assistance. The library has created a comprehensive collection of resources based on the principle of complete collection and preservation. Over the years of its activity, the volume of its collection has increased 1.6 times and now has more than 3 million documents in 50 different languages of the world. The main direction of the library's activity is the publication of works in the Tajik language and works written about Tajikistan, regardless of the place of publication. Annually, about 30-35 thousand books, magazines, newspapers, theses, technical documents, scientific works, bibliographies, guides, encyclopedias and statistical collections enter the collection. The sources of replenishment of the library include compulsory copies, purchases from bookstores, book exchanges with foreign libraries, direct purchases from institutions or individuals, and donated books. Donations of personal libraries of scientists and members of academies of Tajikistan to the National Library have become a good tradition. The library has implemented an automated information service system based on the global library program "ALEPH". The program has two parts: the first part is for library staff and includes five modules (resource completion, cataloging, continuous services, interlibrary services and administrative control). The second part of the "OРАК" program is designed for readers to search and order the books they want through the electronic catalog. To coordinate with this new system, the National Library collection was numbered with barcodes for the first time. In the era of information technology, the library is also expanding and many of the literary works stored are converted into digital versions. Students of various educational institutions use its digital resources. 

The library has a local area network and an access hall for electronic resources and databases, including theses, journals and educational resources, designed for 170 computer stations. An electronic document delivery system has also been launched. Users can access the following resources free of charge through the library computers: Electronic catalog of the library; Internal electronic resources of the library; Digital library of the National Library; Centralized bank of legal information lawinfo.kmt.tj. In addition, users can access the resources of the digital library of academic theses of the Russian State Library. It is a pioneering experience in the field of digitization of printed documents and creation of a database of rare historical and cultural copies of Tajikistan, including publications of the beginning of the 20th century, such as: "Bukhara-i-Sharif" (1912–1913), "Ayinya" (1913–1915), "Rahbare danesh" (1927–1932), "Sholae Enghelab" (1919–1921), "Inqelab Civil" (1930–1937), and "For Socialist Literature" (1932–1941). Currently, the library cooperates with more than 60 foreign institutions and organizations and more than 20 large libraries of other countries. Since 2006, the library has been a member of regional organizations such as the Eurasian Library Association (AKA) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and cooperates with 28 countries in the field of international book exchange. There are memorandums of understanding between the National Library of Tajikistan and 10 foreign libraries. National Library Tajikistan is a member of major international library organizations such as IFLA in two sections: "National Libraries" and "Collections Preservation") and the "Eurasian Library Association". In terms of the volume of services provided to readers, the National Library is the largest library in the country. Its reading rooms, which are divided according to scientific disciplines and types of resources, have more than 1,800 seats. Currently, the number of active library members exceeds 200,000, and about 1,000 to 1,200 people visit the library daily. The National Library of Tajikistan considers entering the global information space, developing new technologies, creating a national collection of manuscripts and documents related to the history and culture of Tajikistan, and providing wide access to these resources to be its priority goals. 

The library has an official website at www.kmt.tj.