500 Years of Belarusian Book Printing

MINSK, 26 July (BelTA) – Minsk will play host to an international congress to mark 500 years of the Belarusian book printing under the UNESCO aegis on 14-15 September, BelTA learned from Deputy Director of the National Library of Belarus Ales Susha.

The 500^th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing is of universal significance and is inscribed in the UNESCO calendar.

The themes of the congress are the following: History of the Belarusian Book Printing in the Context of the World Book Culture, Book Legacy of Francysk Skaryna and His Successors, Belarusian Hand-Written and Printed Book Monuments in National and Foreign Collections, Role of Bibliography in the Preservation of the National Library Heritage, Influence of Book Printing on the Development of the Belarusian Literature, Development of the Belarusian Language in the Context of Book Printing Spreading, The Art of the Belarusian Book: from Skaryna to the Present Day, History of the Library Services of Belarus and Foreign Countries, and others.

The program will also include an international panel discussion to highlight Documentary Heritage in Central Europe: Ways to Preserve, Study and Popularize, and the international exhibition project Francysk Skaryna and his Epoch.

The congress is open for participation to specialists of libraries, museums, archives, research organizations, educational establishments, representatives of the legislative sphere, developers and producers of software, technical equipment and information products.

The 95^th anniversary of the National Library of Belarus will be marked during the international congress as well.

The international congress is organized by the Culture Ministry and the National Library of Belarus. Among the co-organizers is the Central European Initiative (CEI), the Library Assembly of Eurasia, the CIS Interstate Fund of Humanitarian Cooperation and others.