Elena Ivanovna was born in 1955 in Minsk in the family of a military man. Her career in the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin (now the National Library of Belarus) began immediately when she finished the capital's secondary school No 60 in 1972. A seventeen-year-old girl was hired as a junior librarian in the department of Belarusian Literature and Bibliography.
Employees of the Belarusian department, 1970's.
Elena Ivanovna in the center of the upper row
In February 1975, Elena Ivanovna was promoted to the position of librarian, and five years later to the position of a chief librarian of the department.
She successfully combined her work with her studies and in 1979 graduated from the evening department of the Faculty of Philology of the Belarusian State University with a degree in Russian language and literature, having qualified as a philologist-teacher.
With Tatiana Rabushko, 1980
From the materials of the personal file of that period: "Professionally serves readers, performs complex written references that require serious research, has many thanks from readers, replenishes and edits the most complex alphabetic catalog of the department, is responsible for the fund of group processing (acceptance, systematization, etc.), organizes exhibitions."
Elena Ivanovna's broad outlook and caring attitude to local lore allowed her to take part in the compilation of the book "Belarusian Equator" and the index “Minsk is a city hero”.
With Lyudmila Bobkova, April 1980
Since 1988, E.I. Kosinskaya began her professional activity in the scientific and bibliographic department, where she was promoted to the position of senior editor of the Scientific-auxiliary bibliography sector. From 1990 to 1995, she was the head of sector work in the department, and later moved to the position of Chief bibliographer.
Elena Ivanovna was at the origin of the development of the bibliographic security of Chernobyl topics in the republic. She successfully coped with this area of work, which required highly professional bibliographic skills, a broad outlook, deep penetration into complex material, and organizational skills of a coordinator.
The result of this activity was the database "Chernobyl", which contains bibliographic records of documents on various aspects of the Chernobyl accident and its consequences in Belarus and abroad. E.I. Kosinskaya coordinated the activities of the country's scientific libraries on the formation of this resource.
At one time, she was the editor of the database “History of Belarus”, which includes bibliographic information on documents in different languages on the history of Belarus, historiography, archeology, ethnography, special historical disciplines, as well as on the history of certain areas of social development of the country.
Elena Ivanovna's contribution to the study of the reflection of Belarusian studies materials in the resources of the National Library and to the development of a methodology for bibliography of these materials is invaluable. Thus, it has prepared recommendations to help determine and disclose the content of Belarusian studies documents.
Elena Ivanovna third from the right in the first row
Elena Ivanovna took an active part in the development of the "Program for the development of the National Bibliography of Belarus for 2011-2015 and for the future", in research work on the development of a digital model of the national bibliography of Belarus.
Today, E.I. Kosinskaya continues to work as a senior bibliographer of the Bibliography Research department. Her rich experience and exceptional knowledge in the field of bibliography, competence, inquisitiveness and thoroughness are embodied in the information resources she creates.
As an employee of the National Bibliography retrospective sector, Elena Ivanovna successfully coordinates the selection of the current document flow for the database "Belarus: from the past to the present", is engaged in filling out the electronic information resource "National Bibliography of Belarus", participates in research activities on bibliographic search for Belarusian national documents that are not available on the territory of Belarus.
With colleagues
E.I. Kosinskaya is highly qualified and provides methodological assistance in the field of local history bibliographic activities, monitors the bibliographic security of various branches of knowledge and spheres of activity in Belarus – replenishes and analyzes the "Maps of Belarus with bibliographic information", monitors the local history bibliographic activities of regional universal scientific libraries of Belarus.
She willingly shares her knowledge and practical developments concerning the Chernobyl issue, as well as the local history bibliography, at various scientific events, as well as on the pages of the republican professional press.
Elena Ivanovna always managed to combine library work with public life skillfully: for a number of years she was a member of the ideological commission of the Lenin’s communist party regional committee, a political information officer and a cultural organizer in her department.
E.I. Kosinskaya's professionalism and significant contribution to the development of the Belarusian bibliography were deservedly recognized with a number of commendations and encouragement from the management, a Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus (2007), and a Certificate of Honor from the National Library of Belarus (2010, 2022). In 2013, she became the winner of the professional skills competition, receiving the title "Best by Profession".
Elena Ivanovna is the eighth from the left.
"Elena Ivanovna is an extremely sensitive and sympathetic person. Her modesty, intelligence, benevolence, and sense of humor contribute to the formation of a comfortable and creative atmosphere in the team," her colleagues describe her with warmth, appreciation, and deep respect.
The long-term fruitful work of E.I. Kosinskaya is a vivid example of loyalty and dedication to the chosen profession, selfless, impeccable service to the beloved cause.
The staff of the National Library congratulates Elena Ivanovna on her professional anniversary and wishes her health and success, easy and successful implementation of all creative ideas, new achievements in the library business. Let your life be filled with warm meetings, joyful events, smiles and attention of your family and friends.
The article is created by Irina Kuketa, senior librarian of the Library science department.
Read about veterans and employees of the National Library of Belarus in the section "Portraits: the history of the library in faces".
