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Department of Local History
MAIN TASKS
organization of prompt and high-quality differentiated information and library services to the users with the information on local history, the history of Belarus, Belarusian ethnography and folklore studies, Belarusian linguistics and literary studies, Belarusian fiction;
development of information culture among users, popularization of publications on local history and Belarusian fiction;
organization of local history bibliographic activities, creation and maintenance of a local history reference and bibliographic apparatus, local history bibliography and bibliographic services for local history and Belarusian literature;
research and methodological work in the department's field of activity, providing methodological assistance on relevant issues to libraries of the Vitebsk region, as well as to students and pupils of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions who are receiving library education;
implementation of educational and recreational functions: organization of meetings, evenings on local history and Belarusian studies topics, etc.
The fund of the department is universal and contains more than 25 thousand copies of documents in various branches of knowledge. Among them are books, statistical bulletins, booklets, cartographic and pictorial materials, newspapers, magazines and other kinds of editions. A significant part of the collection is Belarusian fiction, literature on the history of Belarus and literary criticism. The basis of regional studies is a separate fund of regional literature and local editions. Rare books and newspapers of the 19th – early 20th centuries, which are digitized and presented in the electronic collection «Vitebsk Region – Documentary Heritage» are the part of this fund. The collection also includes rare digitized documents from the collections of the National Library of Belarus, which are connected with the Vitebsk region by their content or place of publication.
A considerable attention in the work of the department is paid to the creation and filling of databases of its own generation: «Local History», «The Memory of Vitebsk Region», «Pridvinsk Region: History and Modern time», «Afghanistan. Without the Right to Forget», «Man of the Year of Vitebsk Region», electronic project «Liberation of Vitebsk Region. 1943–1944», and participation in the formation of the national database «Belarus in Faces and Events» of the National Library of Belarus.
A great role in the work of the department is played by the bibliographic and publishing activities. The staff of the department create universal, branch, thematic and biobibliographic indexes, dedicated to Vitebsk and the region, the famous people of the region. There is also the Calendar of Significant and Memorable Dates.
A significant place in the work of the department is taken by the popularization of the fund through organizing and holding book exhibitions, bibliographic reviews, presentations of literary and artistic editions, meetings with writers, ethnographers, famous people of the Vitebsk region and the country.
The Department works closely with the National Library of Belarus, the Pskov Regional Library, the regional libraries, organizations and institutions of Vitebsk region.
