On June 21-23 in the city of Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic, the interregional сultural forum «Library in the space of intercultural communication» was held, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the National Library of the Chuvash Republic.
The event took place with the support of the Federal Agency of Nationalities, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Chuvash republic.
The program of the three-day forum consisted of 13 events, 46 presentations, 17 presentations. The large-scale event was attended by 1,600 people, including: almost 200 professionals from 42 regions of Russia and the republic of Kazakhstan, government officials, cultural figures from Chuvashia and other regions, residents and guests of Cheboksary.
A kind of prologue to the forum was a solemn event dedicated to the anniversary of the National Library. The staff of the oldest cultural institution of Chuvashia on the significant date was congratulated by the Head of the Chuvash republic Oleg Nikolaev, the former Head of the republic Nikolay Fedorov, the Minister of Culture of the Chuvash republic Svetlana Kalikova and other officials.
In a solemn atmosphere the library specialists were awarded state awards, certificates of honor and gratitude. Ovation of gratitude and flowers were presented to veterans of librarianship as a sign of sincere respect. The awards were also presented at the plenary session of the forum.
Tatyana Kazakova, Deputy Minister of Culture, Nationalities and Archival Affairs of the Chuvash Republic, presented the staff of the national library with certificates of honor and gratitude from the Ministry of Culture of Chuvashia.
The path of the National Library in 150 years: from creation to the present was presented in the report of the director Rosa Lizakova. The head of the Center of the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Cherny told his colleagues about the library of the future as a smart system. The presentation motivated professionals to think about the meaning of library life in a digital environment. Shushana Zhabko, the Head of the Department of National Literatures of the Russian National Library, highlighted the urgent tasks in the disclosure of national bookishness.
Cooperation agreements were signed between the National Library of the Chuvash Republic, the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of Russia, the National Library Association «Libraries of the Future», as well as with the Regional Information and Library System of Sevastopol. The signing of the agreements will expand the information horizons of libraries: the maximum use of resources and creative potential will have a beneficial effect on the involvement of the population in cultural and educational life, will allow you to get a deeper understanding of the history and national traditions of the regions.
The work of the forum continued in the sections «Library and the formation of values of a multicultural society in the youth environment» and «Local history in libraries of a new generation». The reports were devoted to the organization of interethnic communication in the library, the practice of intercultural communication, the implementation of ethnocultural projects, the forms of promoting national literatures and cooperation with national-cultural associations. The meeting of local history specialists was held in the format of « live communication»: each performance was analyzed in detail, the participants shared their opinions, asked each other questions, and together found solutions to existing problems. The professionals discussed the role of local history research in increasing the authority of the rural librarian, presented interesting projects to promote national languages and literatures, talked about the prospects of local history work.
Library specialists took an active part in the discussions of the special project of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum “Culture 2.0”. Speakers from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Syktyvkar discussed the near future of literature: from artificial intelligence in book publishing to robot writers and literary factories, and also talked about changing the format of work and interaction with visitors in the library. The experts suggested turning the library into a space where it is pleasant and interesting to spend time, and presented their ideas: theatrical performances, library nights, virtual tours of the writers’ places, podcasts and audiobooks.
A separate seminar for the users of IRBIS64 was held with the participation of the Executive Director of the International Association of Users and Developers of Electronic Libraries and New Information Technologies Boris Marshak and the chief programmer of the association Alexander Brodovsky.
The special events of the forum were the opening of the open-air exhibition «Picturesque Library in 3D» and the concert of Alexei Aigi and the group «4ʹ33».
The exhibition «Picturesque Library in 3D» included 33 works of participants in the May plein air in the park of I. Ya. Yakovlev – teachers and students of the Chuvash State Pedagogical University and the Cheboksary Art School, who captured the beauty of the building of the National Library of Chuvashia.
The concert of Alexei Aigi is an unforgettable musical gift to the staff of the National Library for the 150th anniversary and the final event of the library project «Gennady Aigi. Conversation at a Distance», supported by the PJSC LUKOIL Charitable Foundation. The musician has a wonderful sense of humor and soulfulness. A wonderful concert is like a meeting of old friends.
The third day of the forum was marked by the Interregional Round Table «Digital Transformation of Culture» within the framework of the Cheboksary Economic Forum and the IV All-Russian Festival of Russian Multinational Poetry «Rainbow over the Volga = Atal Asamache».
The subject of discussion of the round table «Digital transformation of culture» was the activities of libraries, museums and archives in the context of modern global digitalization, as well as the inevitable processes of convergence of cultural institutions.
The participants in an interesting and useful conversation tried to answer together important questions: which of the designated cultural institutions will be the main one in solving the problems of preserving the social memory of mankind, how to overcome the fear of new technologies, and also shared their experience in the field of digital development of institutions.
A round table and a master class on the problems of translating national literatures became the key events of the IV All-Russian Festival of Multinational Poetry in Russia.
They were conducted by old friends and partners of the library – Irina Alekseeva, professor of the translation department of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen, director of the St. Petersburg Higher School of Translation at this university, head of the Strategic Center for the Development of Translation Education in Russia at the Russian Academy of Education and her deputy for the Center, Associate Professor of the same university, Albina Boyarkina. The main task of the meeting was to resolve organizational issues related to the preparation of the «Chuvash» volume of «Anthology of Contemporary Literature of the Peoples of Russia», initiated by the Center, as well as the creation of a cultural page of Chuvashia on the RAO portal.
The festival was ended on the Moskovskaya embankment of the Volga river. Poetry readings were held in the fresh air in the open microphone format «# Poetry on the Volga» with the participation of poets from 8 regions and a poetry concert «Pushkin Superstar».
Thanks to the live broadcasts of the main events on the Youtube channel of the National Library of the Chuvash Republic, more than 1,050 people joined the Interregional Cultural Forum online, and the live broadcasts of the Culture 2.0 discussion platforms recorded almost 36 thousand views of the interested audience.