NGO Аgency for support of cultural initiatives "Tranzit", Tranzit Kaliningrad region, culture Kaliningrad region, Culture
Kaliningrad Centralized Library System
Municipal cultural institution
236006, Russia, Kaliningrad, Moskovsky prospekt st., 39
Ttel./fax: +7 (4012) 467294
, www.kaliningradlib.ru
Director – Elena Aleksandronets
The Kaliningrad Centralized Library System (CLS) is an umbrella organization integrating 20 city libraries-branches, including 6 children’s libraries, which are situated in different city districts. The A.P.Tchekhov central city library is its methodological, coordination and information centre.
CLS’s fund houses 800000 books, magazines, newspapers, gramophone records and editions stored on electronic carriers; Kaliningrad libraries receiveon average 2000 visitors per day and 100000 people annually.
CLS has books in Russian and in foreign languages, periodicals, electronic and audio-visual editions. Special place is attributed to rare and important books, including those with autographs from famous Russian and international writers. Visitors show a great interest to files on local history which contain materials on the history, culture and architecture of the city, as well as factographic data on the city buildings, streets and squares.
The A.P.Tchekhov CCL is made up of a reference, organizational and methodological, local history and art departments, a reading hall, a mini mobile library, a computer room with access to Internet, the American corner and the German information centre.
City-dwellers are particularly interested in annual book actions and festivals. Some of them have become traditional, such as “Tchekhov’s readings”, “With a book into the XXI century”, the festival of contemporary poetry “Slowwo”, the internationalreader’s marathon “Read together”, “Summer with a book”, the international socio-cultural action for handicapped children “Fairytales for children”, the international project “The Centre of Scandinavian culture” on the basis of the H.C.Andersen children’s library and the social and educational programs “Road to craftsmanship” and “Muses live in a library”.
In 2002 the US ambassador to Russia Alexander Wershbow opened a Hall of American literature in the A.P.Tchekhov library. The US State Department granted the library a collection of books, reference materials, audio and video tapes and CDs in English, maps, posters and photographs. The library holds workshops, conferences and round-tables in the American hall.
Since 2001 the Kaliningrad CLS with the assistance of the City Hall has held the annual international book festival “With a book into the XXI century” which is aimed at spurring the interest of wide audience, Russian and international authors and experts in library studies to the problem of keepingup motivation for reading and a high social status of a book.
