Libraries of Russia: By late 2013 all Russia’s libraries will provide Internet access

By late 2013 all libraries of Russia will provide Internet access, announced the Minister of Culture of Russia Alexander Avdeev.

He mentioned that in the past year there were only 12% of libraries which provided Internet access, while this year their number totaled 15%.

The Minister assured that “a large sum of money will be allocated in order to provide all the country’s libraries with Internet access by late 2013”.

Speaking about digitized books, the Minister of Culture underscored that libraries would offer readers to read them. “We will actively introduce readers into libraries, thought not everyone is psychologically ready, especially the older generation, - A. Avdeev stressed.

He also reported that the Ministry of Culture was setting up a network that would connect all libraries of the country. “We are creating an electronic chain and connecting large and small libraries, and we are going to continue doing that until we include the smallest libraries, up to rural in these chains”, the Minister explained.