Book diplomacy: new educational friendship shelves opened for the peoples of Central Asia!

The Islamic Civilization Center in Uzbekistan has become an important educational platform that unites leading librarians of the region.

From 13 to 15 November of this year, the Islamic Civilization Center in Uzbekistan hosted the international congress titled “Central Asia: shared spiritual and educational heritage – shared future,” initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, bringing together intellectuals from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, as well as Azerbaijan for the exchange of views.

Within the framework of the international congress, regional delegations discussed the promotion of effective innovative practices that meet modern requirements in this field. In this regard, the conditions and opportunities created in the Center’s library were analyzed as a model. In addition, within the congress framework, regional delegations presented valuable books and rare scientific and literary publications related to the literary, historical, and cultural heritage of their countries to the Center’s library.

In the Center’s library, separate shelves were organized for each country, and the presented books were placed on them.

These shelves have become one of the bright symbols of friendship, spiritual closeness, and cultural unity that connect the peoples of Central Asia.

Among the presented books were works by great thinkers and writers such as Abay Qunanbayev, Makhtumkuli Firoghi, Chingiz Aitmatov, Sadriddin Aini, and Nizami Ganjavi, which further enhanced the significance of the initiative.

Ryskul Jumatkadir kyzy, Deputy Director of the National Library of Kyrgyzstan named after A. Usmonova, highly appreciated the modern infrastructure of the library and the conditions created for researchers:

“The rich collection of the library, the modern service system, and the storage facilities designed for 300,000 publications made a great impression on us. The allocation of a separate shelf for books brought from Kyrgyzstan is also an important event for us. The children’s zone, security system, and IT infrastructure are at a very high level,” she said.

Almagul Ayupova, Head of a Department at the Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan, also highly evaluated the capabilities of the Islamic Civilization Center in Uzbekistan:

“The architectural appearance of the Center, its modern exhibitions, and especially the rare manuscripts in the Qur’an Hall made a strong impression on us. The placement of Kazakh publications on a separate shelf once again confirmed the strength of our cultural cooperation,” emphasized the representative of the Kazakh delegation.

Specialists from the National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi, the “Turon” Information and Library Center, and the Republican Central Library for the Blind also actively participated in the work of the congress and contributed to regional information exchange.