Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Artificial intelligence in the library field, creative projects for the younger generation, cross-border cooperation. This and much more was discussed at the international conference of librarians of the Commonwealth of Independent States “Library Commonwealth: Partnership and Innovation,” reports the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

The khokim of Samarkand region Erkinjon Turdimov, the first deputy minister of culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bahadir Akhmedov, the director of the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Asadjon Khojaev, the general director of the Russian State Library, the president of the non-profit partnership “Library Assembly of Eurasia” Vadim Duda addressed the meeting participants with greetings.

Representatives of the Azerbaijan National Library named after M.F. Akhundov, National Library of the Republic of Belarus, National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, National Library of the Kyrgyz Republic named after A. Osmonov, Russian State Library, Russian State Children’s Library, National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi and others took part in the conference.

For two days in Samarkand, leading leaders of libraries in the CIS countries gave their presentations and scientific research. For example, during a scientific and practical seminar held in the building of the regional information and library center named after A. S. Pushkin, foreign experts spoke about the formation of media and information literacy of children and youth, cross-border cooperation of libraries.

“My presentation was dedicated to the media content that children and teenagers watch today on a variety of platforms - Telegram, YouTube, VKontakte,” says Elena Kosolapova, deputy director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies at the Moscow State Institute of Culture. – Media content can be either useful, positive, or destructive. A child may encounter a huge amount of dangerous information of an extremist nature, calling for violence, anti-moral, discrediting the image of the family. And accordingly, a child who is not prepared for it will not be able to determine where the content is useful and where it is not. I talked about what types of destructive content exist and how we, adults, should react in such cases. I believe that not only their parents and teachers, but also librarians should develop the necessary media literacy in children.

During the seminar, Zoya Musieva, director of the Issyk-Kul Regional Library named after T. Sydykbekov, spoke about the lack of books in the Uzbek language in the regions of Kyrgyzstan where ethnic Uzbeks live. As it turned out, domestic libraries located in border areas face a similar problem. It was proposed to exchange books so that citizens living outside the country would have the opportunity to study the culture and traditions of their people.

The director of the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan, Asadjon Khojaev, also spoke about the importance of organizing a meeting of directors of border libraries within the framework of the forum at the opening ceremony of this event. He noted that today there are over 13 thousand information and library centers in the country, as well as over 60 private libraries. 

During the forum, President of the Eurasian Library Assembly Vadim Duda emphasized the role of libraries in achieving the country’s intellectual sovereignty.

By the way, during the opening ceremony of the forum, which was held within the framework of the “Samarkand – Cultural Capital of the CIS” program, many initiatives and proposals were voiced. For example, Kamol Rakhimov, adviser to the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS member states, speaking about the “Book as a Gift” campaign, suggested that representatives of libraries in Uzbekistan prepare a list of the literature they need, which will be purchased at the expense of the fund and transferred to them. Deputy khokim of the region Rustam Kobilov, speaking about the reconstruction of the children’s library, the building of which was built at the beginning of the 20th century, proposed holding a forum of children’s libraries in 2025.

The plenary session of the forum also turned out to be eventful, during which representatives of the library sector of Russia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and others spoke about the work done. For example, the General Director of the National Library of Belarus Vadim Gigin introduced his colleagues to the developments in preserving historical heritage.

“In recent years, a new state historical policy has been implemented in our country,” says Vadim Frantsevich. – And in this matter, the National Library plays an important role not only in terms of library activities and work with books, but also in terms of organizing and conducting cultural events, information and education. I think our experience will be of interest to colleagues. For example, I talked about the creation in Belarus of a republican council on historical policy, lecture halls, both offline and online, and much more. But our country also has something to learn from other countries. For example, we still have a lot of work to do in getting teenagers to read. During the forum, I was also interested in the speech on the advantages of using artificial intelligence in the library and information sector. We are doing this, but not so globally. I am glad that I took part in the forum, where we were able not only to “synchronize watches”, exchange experiences, but also develop joint projects.

Irina Gaishun, General Director of the Eurasian Library Assembly, head of the international department of the Russian State Library, spoke at the forum and spoke about ongoing projects to improve the skills of young librarians. For example, these days two employees of the regional information and library center named after A.S. Pushkin, Zafar Nuriddinov and Artem Oganyan, are scheduled to go to the Russian Federation and will spend about 10 days in Moscow and Kazan. There they will not only refresh their knowledge in the field of library science, get acquainted with the work of Russian libraries, but also take part in the All-Russian Library Congress.

At the end of the forum, three agreements were signed. In particular, the heads of the National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi and the Russian State Library, the ILC of the Khorezm region and the Central City Library named after V.V. Mayakovsky, the ILC of the Surkhandarya region and the Central Scientific Library of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan agreed on cooperation and confirmed their intention with their signature.

Library specialists who arrived in Samarkand also took part in the XVII international conference “Central Asia - 2024: Internet and information and library resources in science, education, culture and business,” which was held in the neighboring region - Jizzakh.