Revealing the mysteries of Europe's largest library

The Russian State Library comprises a unique collection of Russian and foreign documents in 247 languages, stocking over 43 mln library items. And twice as much secrets... RBTH correspondent takes a look inside the Europe's largest library.

The Russian State Library houses a unique collection of domestic and foreign documents. It is situated in the center of Moscow (Vozdvizhenka, nearest tube station -'Arbatskaya'). Anyone can join the library, Russian or foreign, as long as they are at least 18 years old or in college. About 200 new readers sign up every single day.

Visitors have access to 36 reading rooms, able to accommodate 2277 people at once. The 200-plus reading seats are equipped with computers connected to the local network. All the Library’s computers enjoy online access to the databases of the largest Russian and foreign producers of electronic information: magazines; newspapers; newswires; TV and radio; e-books; conference materials; standards; separate bibliographic databases.

The Russian State Library is the headquarters of the Library Assembly of Eurasia. In 2006, by decision of the Council of Heads of Governments of the CIS, the Library was assigned the status of a core organization for cooperation among CIS member states in the field of library science.

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