• 2011-09-06

On September 2, 2011, NCL Director-general Tseng and a group of library staff visited the Russian Academy of Sciences Library, located in St. Petersburg. The director of the library, Valerii Pavlovich Leonov and his assistant director Natalia Vladimirovna Kolpakova personally welcomed them and held a discussion. As this is the oldest library established by the Russian Academy of Sciences, it has over 21 million books in its collection. Of these, 9 million are in a foreign language. During the 18th century, the library began exchanging publications with East Asian countries, and in 1818 the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts was established to collect information and books on ancient Chinese studies. Currently it exchanges publications with over 2250 other institutions. The library’s director stated that on the foundation of the publication exchange already in place that NCL can provide more publications regarding contemporary society and life, scientific developments, politics, technology, history, and culture in Taiwan. Director-general Tseng hopes that the library can provide more material regarding Russian publications on Taiwan studies, Chinese studies, art, and science. In addition to exchanging publications, the library suggested that a cooperative agreement be signed before the end of the year that outlines specific cooperative endeavors, such as co-hosting exhibitions, showing movies, or lectures. The desire is to increase mutual public understanding between the two countries. The library made special arrangements for NCL’s group to tour their manuscript department and Asian & African documents department. NCL promised to provide even more suitable publications and documents for their collections.