The groundbreaking ceremony for the Central Scientific Library of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) has been held in Baku.
The ceremony was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state examined the draft design of the library.
The President of ANAS, Mahmud Karimov, and the Chairman of the “Azeragrartikinti” JSC, the project contractor, Agalar Valiyev, informed the President that a land plot of 0.9 hectares had been allocated for the construction of the library. The total area under construction is 24,180 square meters.
It was indicated that the library would have a closed and a special fund designed to hold 3,500,000 books. The funds will be equipped with special ventilation systems. Open funds will be distributed among floors in accordance with the subject and will store about a million books. The reading rooms will serve up to 700 readers at a time. The subscription service is designed for 80 readers.
The first floor will have a museum, waiting rooms and a cafeteria. The library will also operate special workshops for restoration, binding and copying. There will be rooms for online searching, an express customer service, a photo lab, a small printing center, rooms for sorting and acquisition of books and documents, a filing room and an archive. On the second floor of the library, there will be a bookstore, three reading rooms, a server room and lounges. On the other floors there will be a conference room, thesis and reading rooms, and a room for electronic publications.
The President was informed that the library would have funds of scientific and technical documents, electronic carriers, exchanges, drawings, maps, films and microfilms. The library will also operate departments of international exchange, acquisition, scientific information, scientific bibliography, library science and information, and communication. The departments will have centers for sciences, humanities and social sciences, policy, bibliography, academicians, petrochemicals, Azerbaijan studies, departments of e-cataloging, rare and valuable editions, arts, maps and drawings, natural and engineering, social sciences and humanities. A language center will also be established. The building will have 10 modern elevators and a moving stairway between the first and second floors. The library is scheduled for commissioning in 2013.
President Ilham Aliyev lowered a metal capsule into the foundation and launched the grouting facility.
The head of state gave instructions and recommendations on completing the construction at a high level.
