The Presidential Library presented "Russian Language" collection at the International Youth Forum of the CIS Member States

The Presidential Library attended the International Youth Forum of the CIS Member States “The Role of the Russian Language in the Humanitarian Integration of the Commonwealth Countries”, which was held from August 25 to 31, 2023 in Dushanbe and Guliston (Republic of Tajikistan).

2023 in the CIS has been declared the Year of the Russian language as the language of interethnic communication, which includes scientific and cultural events. One of them is a forum in Tajikistan. The forum was organized by the Interstate Foundation for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States and the Youth House of Republic of Tajikistan.

The forum brought together representatives of government agencies, institutions of culture, science and education, public organizations involved in the promotion and popularization of the Russian language in the CIS, from six countries: Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Republic of Uzbekistan and Republic of Tajikistan.

The Russian delegation was represented by the leading libraries of the country: the Department of Model Libraries of the Russian State Library (Polina Avtonomova, Zhanna Losich), the Department of International and Organizational Activities of the National Library of Russia (Maria Limaeva), the Department of Library Cooperation of the Presidential Library (Dmitry Kosenko). The head of the delegation is the head of the Center for Cultural and Educational Programs of the Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature Ivan Rybaulin.

Throughout the forum, members of the delegation took an active part in discussing topical issues of the preservation and development of the Russian language in the CIS, the use of innovative means and methods of interuniversity communication and youth contacts, the promotion of the Russian language and Russian culture among the youth, as well as supporting intercultural dialogue in the Commonwealth, creating space for open dialogue and exchange of experience between young people.

At the central session of the forum, a specialist of the Presidential Library, Dmitry Kosenko, presented the report "Russian Language in the Digital Space of the Presidential Library", dedicated to the review of the digital collection Russian Language and the experience of the Library's specialists in holding the Russian Language Olympiad Russia in the Electronic World.

The formation of collections of materials on the history, theory and modern issues of the development of the Russian language as the state language of the Russian Federation is one of the activities of the Presidential Library. Of the more than a million items available to readers in the library's collections, a significant proportion are materials related to the Russian language. At the moment, the collection Russian Language has about nine thousand depository items. It includes manuscripts and publications of monuments of Russian literature, legislative acts, dictionaries, reference books, teaching aids. The materials spotlight the state policy in the language sphere, the main stages of the development of the Russian language (from its inception to the present day), research papers, materials for studying the Russian language in educational institutions and as part of self-study.

Within the framework of the forum, there was a presentation of a stand dedicated to the main activities of the national libraries of Russia and the Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, as well as the “Evening of Cultures of Russia and the Republic of Belarus”, at which members of the Russian delegation introduced colleagues from the Commonwealth countries through folklore with the history and culture of Russia. When preparing one of the tasks offered to the participants of the evening, the publication from the Presidential Library’s collections Dictionary of Russian Proverbs and Sayings (1966), which contains popular proverbs and sayings with examples of their use in Russian literature, was used.

The forum ended with the adoption of a final resolution in which the participants recognized the importance of preserving the Russian language in the CIS space and around the world, and also proposed solutions to develop and strengthen the integration of the Russian language in the international community.