Ilsur Metshin: «Two hundred thousand citizens have a reading ticket. Kazan is a city of readers»

After the renovation the library on Pobezhimova Street, a children's area will be equipped, the book collection will be doubled, and a meeting room will be provided for the members of the Active Life project. These plans were discussed during a meeting led by Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin at the library, where renovation works have already started. Last year, city libraries provided residents with approximately 4.5 million books.

Renovation of library № 25 at 47 Pobezhimova Street became possible by the «Family» national project. The renovation will affect not only the exterior, but also the interior.

A comfortable conference room will be added to the library. It will host meetings with writers and discussions about new books. There are many elderly people who are regular readers of the library and participate in the Active Life project. They will have an opportunity to play games like checkers and chess, discuss books, and host club events there. Plans also include holding lectures on the history and industrial development of the neighborhood, as many residents work at aircraft factories. Such career guidance will help young people understand more about manufacturing careers.

There will be no traditional book depository as in older libraries. Instead, all books will be placed on shelves and each will have a special label. Visitors will then be able to choose their favorite books and arrange them at the book collection station, where they can also return them.

Construction work has already begun. It is necessary to repair the facade of the first floor of the building, replace wooden windows, and utility networks. Next, they will start interior works. The interior design will combine styles of late constructivism and Stalinist neoclassicism, which overlaps with the opening of the library and active construction in the district. The emphasis will be on popular propaganda posters from the 1930s and 1940s.

The library was founded in 1932 and is one of the oldest libraries in the city. It has already changed its location – at first, it was located on Volgogradskaya Street. In the sixties, it moved to the dormitory of Kazan Aviation Plant on Pobezhimova Street. This is where it is located to this day.

«Today, almost 200 thousand citizens have a library card. Last year, we updated our library collection by purchasing 7,500 new books. Our librarians keep our readers up-to-date with new books and well-known authors. Last year, Kazan residents received about 4.5 million books from libraries. And this number has been increasing in recent years. Kazan is a city of readers», – said Ilsur Metshin.