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2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Library of Azerbaijan. According to the Order "On the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Library of Azerbaijan" signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, on June 24, 2023, on September 20-22, the International Scientific and Practical Conference on "National libraries are the protectors  of the spiritual memory of peoples", The 27th annual meeting of the Assembly of Eurasian Libraries (AEL), the 6th meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Libraries of the ECO member countries, as well as various presentations and roundtable discussion are planned. The events are held with the participation of the largest state, national and university library directors and employees of 19 countries, as well as the largest and leading library managers and employees of the republic.

On September 20, the grave of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and the Alley of Martyrs were visited in the Alley of Honor, and then the International Scientific-Practical Conference started its work in the National Library of Azerbaijan.

First, the spirits of the martyrs were commemorated with a minute of silence, the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played, and a short documentary film about the National Library of Azerbaijan was shown.

Director of the National Library of Azerbaijan, professor Karim Tahirov, announced the plenary session of the International Scientific-Practical Conference entitled "National libraries are the guardians of the moral memory of peoples". The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Adil Karimli, who gave an introductory speech, first greeted the guests on behalf of the employees of the Ministry of Culture and congratulated all the employees of the library, including the leadership of the National Library of Azerbaijan, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. In his speech, the speaker brought to the attention of the event participants that the National Library plays a great role in the promotion of world culture as a whole. He stated that in the late 90s of the last century, the successful policy implemented under the leadership of the great leader Heydar Aliyev began to show its results, and as a result of his attention and concern for the field of culture, significant progress was made in the activity of the National Library.. He noted that today the National Library is experiencing its prosperity as a result of the purposeful policy of our honorable President Mr. Ilham Aliyev, who continued the cultural policy of the national leader of our nation, Heydar Aliyev, with great success, and has become one of the most modern libraries in the world, developing day by day.

Chairman of the Culture Committee of the Milli Majlis, professor Ganira Pashayeva congratulated the employees on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the National Library of Azerbaijan and expressed her satisfaction with the participation in this organized conference. He called the library workers the protectors of our culture and spoke about the special value given to books and libraries in our country. The speaker spoke about the antiquity of library traditions in Azerbaijan, and at the same time emphasized that the personal library of Abbasgulu Agha Bakikhanov is preserved in the St. Petersburg Library.

Director General of the Russian State Library, Vadim Duda, congratulated the employees on the occasion of this remarkable anniversary and noted that the professionalism of the director of the library, professor Karim Tahirov, is a great motivation for his colleagues.

Member of Milli Majlis, academician Nizami Jafarov said that libraries are considered as our national honor in our country, he called libraries historical geography, he spoke about the role of National Library in the formation of the intellect of our people, he emphasized the importance of the library in the field of bibliography and creation of our national bibliographic repertoire.

Director of the National Library of Uzbekistan, Umida Teshabayeva, congratulated the 100th anniversary of the library on behalf of the Uzbek people, saying that this important event is significant not only for librarians, but also for the entire generation of readers.

Stefano Campagnolo, director of the Central National Library of Rome, expressed his gratitude for the invitation to participate in the conference, calling libraries temples.

Later, the conference continued with reports, Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs and Library-Information Service of the National Library of Azerbaijan, PhD in History Adiba Ismailova, , said, "The National Library of Azerbaijan is the guardian of the spiritual memory of the Azerbaijani people," Vadim Duda, Director General of the Russian State Library, said, "Strategic directions of libraries' activity ”, Stefano Campagnolo, director of the National Central Library of Rome, “A new horizon. What is the future of national libraries?", Director of the National Library of Qatar Tan Huism "Collect, protect and engage: experiences of the National Library of Qatar", Director of the National Library of Lithuania named after Martynas Majvydas Renaldas Gudauskas "The National Library of Lithuania is in the creative process", President of the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mayil Ahmadov, Director of the Library, Honored Culture Worker, "Role of National Libraries in Providing Society with Information", Pavel Leonidovich Kuzmin, General Director of the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature named after M.I. Rudomino, spoke on the topics "Library as a center of intercultural dialogue".

Later, the signing ceremony of memorandums on mutual cooperation was held between the National Library of Azerbaijan and the National Libraries of Pakistan, Russia, Lithuania, the Central National Library of Rome and the Kliment Ohrid University and National Library of Macedonia (Skopje).

At the same time, the traditional and electronic book exhibition "Azerbaijani manuscripts in the world's libraries" and digital copies and printed copies of the manuscripts of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi brought from the world's national libraries took place.

Also, book exhibitions on the history of the National Library called "From the Golden Fund of the National Library", "From our National Musical Treasure" and "Publications of the National Library" were opened.

The guests presented their gifts to the National Library on the occasion of the anniversary.

It should be noted that the conference will continue its work on September 21.