Social and Cultural Center

Head of the social and cultural center:
Radmila Bukach

Теl.: (+375 17) 266 37 25, (+375 17) 293 28 03 (internal number 78 03)
E-mail: bukach@nlb.by
Room 320
Reception of citizens and representatives of juridical persons are on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Social and Cultural Center is designed to form and satisfy information, educational, cultural needs of the Library’s users and workers.

To achieve this goals it is necessary to solve the following objectives: to promote art and book heritage; to carry out educational programs; to popularize books and the history of the National Library of Belarus; to organize PR-campaigns; to conduct cultural and corporate events; to organize excursions; to develop and implement projects intended for international development; to participate in international projects; to organize sports and recreation activities and to promote healthy lifestyles.

Social and Cultural Center includes:

• Centre for International Meetings and Negotiations which consists of a complex of halls and rooms for summits, meeting at the top level (round and oval rooms, the International Press Centre, the President’s Office);
• Conference Hall;
• Educational Hall;
• Complex of art galleries;
• Book Museum;
• Children’s Room;
• Fitness Center;
• Observation Platform.

The work of Social and Cultural Center is focused on the conducting of events of socio-cultural significance; the work of galleries, exhibitions, the museum; international activities; conducting of excursions; advertising; sports and recreation activities. All branches of Social and Cultural Center closely cooperate, complement each other and provide a single result.

Social and Cultural Center holds annually about 200 events: campaigns of socio-cultural and socio-political nature, meetings with scientific and creative intelligentsia, scientific and educational events (conferences, forums, seminars, etc.), concerts, art and book exhibitions, musical and literary meetings, ceremonies on donations of book and book presentations, entertainment and educational events, recreative sports.

For residents and guests of the country the National Library of Belarus carries out excursions which about 100 thousand people annually visit. A unique architecture of the building and the Library’s information capabilities are shown at these tours.

The National Library of Belarus hosts international meetings at the highest state level, including events with the President of the Republic of Belarus A. Lukashenko. Among them are a session of the EurAsEC Intergovernmental Council and the CSTO Collective Security Council, the 13th session of the CIS Intergovernmental Council on cooperation in construction, the 7th session of the CIS Council of Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions, a visit of the CIS Heads of Government, a summit of the CIS Heads of Government Council, etc.

In the art galleries, the Social and Cultural Center carries out national and international art exhibitions, festivals and vernissages, including "Dedication to Belarus", "Art-Krok", the International Festival of the Landscape dedicated to Vitaly Tsvirko, "Homo pulcher", "Perception of the Myth", "Human and Wheel", a festival of digital art "Terra Nova", a graphic exhibition "Art-Line", etc. As part of this branch, the Social and Cultural Center also organizes literary events with authors who are participants of art projects.

The activities of the Library’s Social and Cultural Center is related to the organization and conduct of a number of thematic book exhibitions, actions, ceremonies and presentations of book collections which are devoted to the main national and international events and holidays, important dates and anniversaries.

In connection with international cooperation, the Library annually holds Days of Culture of the Peoples during which book, art and photo exhibitions are carried out. In the Library, there were exhibitions devoted to such countries as Israel, Greece, Kazakhstan, Russia, Lithuania, the USA, Germany, France, China, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc.

To create a favorable a social and psychological atmosphere among the Library’s workers, define and maintain their creative abilities and initiatives Social and Cultural Center carries out a number of corporate activities in the following fields:

• cultural events (organization of events dedicated to holidays and anniversaries, creative events, competitions, excursions);
• educational programs (organization of thematic meetings with figures of culture, art and science, trainings for the Library’s workers for professional and personal growth);
• recreative sports: organization of events that are of great interest for the Library’s workers – basketball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, aerobics, shaping, chess, athletics, etc.; participation in sports events that are carried out by the Library, the city, etc.; providing of treatment and rehabilitation services (sauna, solarium, water treatment, etc.).