KFU’s Lobachevsky Library to identify rare manuscripts and books in its collection

The identification commission is headed by Vice-Premier Leyla Fazleeva.

Among the commissioners are Chairperson of the State Committee of Tatarstan for Archives Gulnara Gabdrakhmanova, Vice-Rector of KFU for General Affairs Rishat Guzeyrov, and other officials and academics.

The Lobachevsky Library is one of the oldest and largest Russian librariies. It manages 6 million storage units, including 15 thousand Arabic language manuscripts, the largest such collection in Russia. Some of them are valuable historical items, and they are registered by the Ministry of Culture of Russia and the Federal Archival Agency.

The new register will include first prints of various origins with a focus on Tatar cultural heritage. Naturally, all the newly identified valuable items will be digitized for public access.

The library was founded with the University in 1804. Nikolai Lobachevsky, our University’s ninth rector, made immense contributions to its growth while working as the chief librarian in 1825 – 1835. He laid the foundations of bibliographical analysis and registry, local and international book exchange, unified catalogues, and made the library a public institution with a separate building (now part of the University’s central architectural ensemble). The library was named in honor of Lobachevsky in 1935.