Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus

The event took place on May 28 in the Round Hall. The event was attended by Minister of Culture of the Republic of Belarus Marat Markov, heads of culture departments, organizations in the cultural sphere, creative unions, and public associations.

The main report was delivered by Dmitry Slesarchik, Head of the Department of Culture and Folk Art of the Ministry of Culture. 

As of today, Belarus has 5,600 public and special libraries with a total collection of approximately 200 million copies. The total number of visits to public libraries in 2025 amounted to 35,723,228, of which 14,944,958 are virtual visits. In 2025, Belarusian libraries held 186,560 events. The largest event was the republican cultural and educational campaign "Library Night", attended by about 150 libraries from across the country.

The following issues were also discussed: 

“On Digitalization and Work with Electronic Resources in Libraries” (speaker - Vadim Gigin, Director General of the State Institution “National Library of Belarus”);

“Modern Approaches to Organizing Library Work in the Minsk Region” (speaker - Alla Shakhotko, Head of the Main Department of Culture of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee);

“The Library as a Platform for the Cultural Space of the Region: Practices of Sociocultural Activities” (speaker - Tatyana Stelmakh, Director of the State Cultural Institution “Mosty District Library”). 

The meeting participants analyzed the current state of public libraries, identified existing challenges, and outlined strategic directions for their further development. Special attention was paid to issues of modernizing library infrastructure, introducing new information technologies, expanding the range of services provided, and increasing the accessibility of library resources for all segments of the population. 

Ways to strengthen the staffing potential of libraries and enhance the prestige of the librarian profession were also discussed.