The Presidential Library received an award for the development of international cooperation

At the solemn event on February 12, 2018 in honor of the Day of the Diplomatic Worker of Russia the Presidential Library was awarded with a commemorative badge of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg. The award to the Director General of the Presidential Library Alexander Vershinin was presented by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Petersburg Vladimir Zapevalov.

The meeting was attended by Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Vyacheslav Makarov, Speaker of the Parliament of the Leningrad region Sergey Bebenin, as well as other officials, heads of consular missions accredited in the North-West region, veterans of the diplomatic service.  

The Presidential Library was awarded for achievements in the development and strengthening of international cooperation. This honorable sign to the Presidential Library was not accidental. In fact, the first electronic national library of Russia pays much attention to the development of active interaction with foreign countries and the expansion of its international network. Currently, 36 remote access centers of the Presidential Library successfully operate in 28 countries of the world, including Germany, the USA, Italy, Spain, Austria, Great Britain and others. Remote electronic reading rooms are open on the basis of Russian centers of science and culture and national libraries, whose employees and visitors can participate in various conference, video lecture and cinema clubs through the video conference mode.  

The foreign public takes an active part in the Presidential Library's own projects. Foreign students participate in the interactive Olympiad "Russia in the Electronic World", young people send photos to participate in the international annual multimedia contest "Foreign View". It should be specially noted that the diplomats also participate in the Presidential Library’s contest.

The Presidential Library successfully implements various international projects. In 2017 in Germany a large-scale exhibition of the first color photographs of the Russian Empire by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky from the Presidential Library was presented. First, the opening of the exhibition took place in Berlin, and after a while the photos could be seen by the residents of Dresden. In addition, round tables were held in these cities on the theme "Photo View on Russia: From the Origins to Our Days", and at the German-Russian Institute of Culture in Dresden the Consul General of Russia in Leipzig Andrey Dronov personally took part in the discussion. The plans for this year include the presentation in Dresden of the international project of photographic heritage of the Bulla dynasty.

Close and friendly relations develop between the Presidential Library and China. One of the most striking examples is the transfer in January 2014 by the Presidential Library to the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing of digitized paintings from the mid-XIX century to the beginning of the XX century with traditional oriental motifs and congratulations, and in October 2016 in Chongqing the joint exhibition of Chongqing and Presidential Libraries "Joint memory. Photo exhibition of Chinese and Soviet photographs during the Second World War" was opened. The exposition was created on the basis of photographic documents selected by Chinese specialists and photographic materials provided by the Presidential Library.

The Presidential Library participates in the Conference of Directors of National Libraries of Europe CENL, the Conference of Directors of National Libraries of the World CDNL, the International Federation of Library Associations and IFLA institutions, including the work of the Permanent UNIMARC Committee Format, the Eurasia Library Assembly and the International forums “Dialogue Russia - the Republic of Korea" and "Petersburg Dialogue". In addition, the Presidential Library acted as an information partner of international forums and summits: "Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation" (APEC), "Russia-ASEAN", CSTO forum, BRICS and SCO summits, St. Petersburg International Forums and others.

The Presidential Library as the largest information, cultural and educational, scientific and educational multimedia center takes an active part in international events, including the highest level. Only in 2017, the International Economic Forum, the World Communication Summit were held in the Senate Square building in the Presidential Library which became one of the venues for the events of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.