Ms Sivakova was born on October 15, 1950, in Hrodna in a very intelligent family. Her mother, Inna, worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Education and Psychology at Hrodna State University, and her father, Aliaksej Karpyiuk, was Secretary of the Hrodna branch of the BSSR Writers' Union.
In 1967, Elena graduated from Hrodna Secondary School No. 14 and entered the Minsk State Teaching Institute of Foreign Languages (now Minsk State Linguistic University). After graduating in 1972 as a teacher of English and French, she worked for four years as a teacher at school No. 12 in Hrodna. Then, her professional path continued in the Hrodna Regional Committee of the Komsomol as a guide-translator, and later - a senior guide-translator of the "Sputnik" International Youth Tourism Bureau.
Ms Sivakova began her work at the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin as a librarian of the department of inter-library subscription on September 8, 1981. In 1985, she moved to the department of foreign literature and spent 10 years of her professional life there, reaching the position of Head of the International Book Exchange Sector.
Successful leadership, professional skills, responsibility and high efficiency, deep knowledge of national culture and books allowed Ms Sivakovato to head the Acquisition Department in 1995. Thanks to her, the issues of the formation of NLB collections, ensuring the completeness of the repertoire of national documents, replenishment of collections of manuscripts, old-print books, notes, cartographic and other types of documents were always solved promptly and efficiently.
Ms Sivakova's contribution in expanding the geography of distribution of the Belarusian books and updating the collections of the National Library of Belarus with valuable foreign scientific publications is invaluable. She significantly contributed to the strengthening relations with international document exchange partners - libraries and information centres of Germany, Russia, China, Japan, Great Britain; to the renewal of cooperation with the national libraries of India and Australia, and establishing contacts with new partners in countries such as Colombia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, etc. In total, more than 50 organizations have become partners of the NLB in international document exchange.
Ms Sivakova helped develop a number of legal documents, becoming one of the main designers of the Single Profile of the National Library of Belarus, instructions on the accounting and preservation of library collections in the Republic of Belarus, the national СТБ standard 7.200-2000 "Library Statistics. Main provisions" and other regulations governing the activities of libraries of the Republic.
With her active participation, a number of interstate documents aimed at strengthening cooperation between the countries have been prepared: "Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Belarus on the interstate exchange of mandatory copies of documents", "Agreement on the interstate exchange of mandatory copies of documents of CIS member states", "Agreement on ensuring the non-monetary equivalent of the exchange of mandatory copies of printed editions of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Community" and others.
Ms Sivakova took an active part in the work of professional organizations and associations: she was a member of the International Working Association of Librarians dealing with the documentation of Eastern, Central and South-Eastern Europe (ABDOS), and for a number of years chaired the committee on library collections of the Belarusian Library Association.
Ms Sivakova has always generously shared her experience and knowledge. She is the author of numerous publications, dedicated to book acquisitions for the country as a whole and the National Library of Belarus in particular. Her reports at the international, national, regional conferences and the seminars cause lively interest in listeners.
Ms Sivakova enjoys a well-deserved authority among Belarusian and foreign colleagues, the administration of the Library and the state. A number of letters of appreciation and certificates of different levels evidence a high assessment of her work. Among the high awards are the Francysk Skaryna Medal, Certificate of Merit of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, etc. In 2007, Ms Sivakova was awarded the title of "Eminent Cultural Figure of the Republic of Belarus."
The staff of the National Library of Belarus wholeheartedly congratulates Ms Sivakova on her anniversary and wishes her good health, prosperity, inexhaustible energy and a long life.
Let the dreams come true, opportunities multiply, every endeavour be successful and let there be enough strength and energy for new achievements! Let your favorite vocation bring pleasure and joy, inspires new successes!
Bibliology Research Department
