Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 9 February (BelTA) – Belarusian people show big interest in the information resources of British publishing houses, Deputy Director for Information Resources at the National Library of Belarus Tatyana Kuzminich said at the roundtable session Belarus-the UK. Publishing Business Opportunities, BelTA has learned.

“Since its opening, the National Library of Belarus has regularly purchased various books in English. Over the past 20 years, the library’s fund has increased by more than 11,000 editions published in the UK. There are different topics such as economics, politics, history, medicine, natural science, etc. British books have always been in demand,” Tatyana Kuzminich remarked.

The international exchange of documents is in progress – 5,000 sources have been brought from the UK, about 6,000 Belarusian documents have been sent to British readers.

“The exchange of documents has reduced in the past decade. The exchange of electronic publications and subscriptions to databases become more and more popular. The National Library wants to make British databases accessible, regularly purchases information resources and invites other Belarusian libraries to use them,” Tatyana Kuzminich said.

British and American publishing houses are the traditional leaders in terms of subscription. Readers and partners have access to the electronic information resources of the publishing houses of the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, etc., a number of popular scientific journals.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Guest of Honor at the 24th International Book Fair which is held in Minsk on 8-12 February. As part of the forum the UK embassy holds seminars, meetings, lectures, presentations, contests, and master classes. The roundtable session Belarus-the UK. Publishing Business Opportunities has brought together the representatives of Belarusian state-run and private publishing houses, the Publishers Association of the UK, the Belarusian Education Ministry, the National Library, book stores. Experts discussed the prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation, popularization of English literature, and promotion of Belarusian books on the European market, spoke about the problems of the publishing business.