Local History: New Horizons in the Libraries Activities

At the solemn ceremony of awarding state awards to the best workers of the agriculture sector held on February 9^th, 2018, A. Lukashenko, the President of the Republic of Belarus, announced the 2018 as the Year of Native Land. 

On June 20, 2018, the President signed Decree No. 247 on holding 2018-2020 in Belarus under the sign of the Year of Native Land in order to stimulate socio-economic development of the regions, to form an active citizenship among the population, and preserve the historical and cultural heritage.

Speaking about significance of the native land for everyone, the Belarusian leader stressed: "Belarus is our common home, and it’s in our interests to make it comfortable and exemplary. Let's show that we are true and efficient owners of our land!".

In recent years, interest in local history information, study of historical, socio-economic and cultural development of regions and individual localities has increased significantly. Thanks to studies of the local history, we are able to show our love for the only place in the world that we consider native, whether it is a large metropolis or a small village.

Traditionally libraries of different levels represent the central link in the collection of local history information and the formation of local lore resources, study and popularization of historical and cultural heritage. The announcement of this year as the Year of the Native Land will give a new impetus to the activities of library institutions (primarily regional ones) and will increase interest in them.

The National Library of Belarus as a coordinating, scientific and methodological center, including in the field of library and bibliographic study of local lore, implements continuous monitoring of activities and local history information products of regional libraries in Belarus, analytical reviews and recommendations are made and published on its basis. Methodological developments, publications and reports of employees, various research and publishing projects, scientific, practical and sociocultural events are devoted to regional studies.

The National Library of Belarus is one of the initiators and main organizers of the annual republican contest Library is Environment of National Culture, aimed at enhancing the research work of public libraries, enhancing their role in the popularization of national heritage, history, literature, language, traditions, folk culture.

The Library forms an branched system of Belarusian information resources, in which all information is reflected, including the information related to certain localities and populated areas of our country.

In order to expand access to information about local journals and local history documents, active work on development of regional consolidated electronic catalogs is in progress. To date, such consolidated resources have been created for the Gomel, Grodno, Brest and Mogilyov regions, and it's planing to create them for all regions of the Republic of Belarus.

Some years ago they have started the development of the regional union electronic catalogs, in which information on local publications and documents is being collecting. Today such consolidated resources have been created for the Gomel and Grodno regions, in the future they are planned for all regions of Belarus.

In recent years interesting scientific and publishing projects have been carried out - the fruits of joint efforts of library, scientific, educational, museum, archival establishments of our country and local history-lovers to recreate and popularize historical and cultural heritage. A comprehensive approach to implementation of those projects is used: not only the bibliographic information is collected and the publications are digitized, but also various accompanying materials (scientific articles, biographical references, chronicles of events, etc.) are prepared, an appropriate illustrative and sound frame is chosen for recreating the atmosphere of the age. One of the examples of such work is a project dedicated to the memorable books of the Belarusian provinces.

The National Library in cooperation with external partners, completed two projects within the framework of the research Virtual Reconstruction of Documents and Materials on the Regional History of Belarus.

One of the practical results of the research was the issue of multimedia publications Regional History of Belarus in Documents and Materials of the Vilna Archeographic Commission (1864–1915) and Activities of the Vitebsk Scientific Archival Commission (1909–1919): Documents and Materials.

For modern researchers this is a full-fledged electronic reproduction of authentic texts, with a block of scientific, bibliographic, factographic, reference, biographical and informational and analytical historical materials, published in the second half of the XIX and early XX centuries, which allow to comprehensively present the activities of these institutions and contribute to the identification and popularization of local history.

The next edition of the regional history of Belarus is scheduled for 2018: 1000 Year of Brest: in Terms of Ancient Documents (in cooperation with M. Gorky Brest Regional Library and other scientific and educational institutions).

The National Library of Belarus has planned a series of events for the presentation of such projects, as well as for learning of the information heritage of the regions of Belarus, their history and cultural achievements, and the results of the work of scientific and local history communities on the study of their native land. The first event The Information Treasures of Belarus. Vitebsk Region  was held on January 25.

The next event National Informational Resource: the Vitebsk Region, Today and Yesterday was organized by the Vitebsk Regional Library named after V. Lenin. The staff of the National Library of Belarus took part in the round table, which was held on April 11.

The National Library of Belarus' exhibition project "The Native Land, the Tale of Times", consisting of a cycle of art, information and documentary exhibitions, is also dedicated to the Year of Native Land. The exhibition "The Native Land, the Tale of Times", presenting the postcards and books collection by Vladimir Likhodedov and photographs of Sergey Plytkevich,  opened on April 5. The photo project "I See It with My Heart" and information-documentary exposition "The Locals", opened in the library on May 15, starting the second stage of the project. The new photo exposition by Belarusian photographers, which opened on August 16, started the project's third stage.On March 26, 2019 the final stage of the photo project “I See It with My Heart” took place in the library.

The presentation of the book titled Spadchyna by Mikola Malyauka, published within the framework of the Year of Native Land, took place on May 29.

The art exhibition of Gavriil Vaschenko "Land Under White Wings", timed to the Belarusian artist's 90th anniversary, opened on June 21.

On September 1, the first lesson "2018 is the Year of Native Land" for the pupils of Minsk gymnasium No.1 named after Francysk Skarina became very special, because it was held in the National Library of Belarus. On September 3, the pupils of Minsk school No. 61 had the lesson "My Native Land" at the Book Museum.

On September 1–2 the National Library of Belarus took part in the celebration of the 25th Day of Belarusian Written Language in the city of Ivanovo, Brest region, timed to the Year of Native Land. The main theme of the events was the 400th anniversary of the first "Primer".

On September 3, the library presented the photo exhibition "Sounding Landscapes" by Anatoly Dribas, who has traveled all over the country with his camera to capture the beauty of "the land under white wings".

The presentation of the book “I’m Seeing Belarus Like That” and opening of Vladislav Tsydzik’s photo exhibition , timed to the Year of the Native Land in Belarus, took place in the library, on October 16.

The first Year of Native Land was summed up: “The Regional Presentation of the First Year of Native Land” was held in the library, on December 19.

The achievements in the national book industry in 2018 were solemnly presented in the library, on December 20, within the framework of the Year of Native Land in Belarus.

On March 5, 2019, Director of the National Library of Belarus, Roman Motulsky, held a public lecture on the Trends and features of the development of the book culture of Belarus in the 11th – 20th centuries, in the context of European and national history. The event, attended by representatives of culture and education of Gomel Region, was part of the Year of Native Land in Belarus.

On 20 March, as part of the Year of Native Land events, Vitebsk Regional Library named after Lenin and the National Library of Belarus hold the seminar "Libraries and Book Culture of Belarus: From Past to Future". The seminars were also held at Mogilev Regional Library named after Lenin, Brest Regional Library named after Gorky and Grodno Regional Scientific Library named after Karsky.

As part of the charity campaign, timed to the Year of Native Land, public libraries in Orsha District have received local history publications, collected in all regions of Belarus. Two hundred books are donated to Orsha Centralized Library System.

On January 30, 2020, a photo exhibition Secrets of Belarusian Nature by Vasily Belyakov drew the attention of visitors to those places where painters and watercolorists did not reach, but where the photographer obsessed with the idea could explore.

The event About the Motherland in the Native Language on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day was dedicated to the Year of Native Land and took place at the National Library of Belarus on February 21.

Another CD was released from a number of electronic editions of the National Library of Belarus in September 2020. It introduces the information heritage of different places in Belarus, their history and cultural legacy.

The exhibition Legends in Stones and Wood (from January 10 to December 10, 2020) is dedicated to the third Year of Native Land. The preliminary exhibition Tuteyshyya was dedicated to the world-famous Belarusians and the place where they were born. This year, the National Library of Belarus drew the attention of readers and visitors to the architectural and historical heritage of our country.

The study of local lore is the main theme of the next stage of the large-scale scientific event, Library as a Cultural Phenomenon Congress, as it is the main direction of preservation and popularization of the historical and cultural heritage of countries and nations. This is another contribution to the Year of Native Land, summing up its results.

The photo exhibition "Belarus: Beautiful Moments" held in Poland was prepared by the National Library of Belarus together with the TV channel "Belarus 24" for the Year of Native Land. The exhibition of the project includes the works of famous Belarusian photographers.