The message reads, in part:
“The establishment of the Russian National Library is closely connected with the names of outstanding state figures, authors and publishers, who were there when unique book, magazine, manuscript and research collections were forming and did a lot to educate a broad audience. They also founded librarianship in Russia.
You can be rightfully proud of your predecessors who made an enormous contribution to preserving our rich historical, cultural and spiritual heritage. Thanks to their selflessness, professionalism and hard and constant labour the Russian National Library is our priceless national treasure.
It is important that today too highly qualified experts also work there, in an atmosphere of creativity. You have managed to bring together the best traditions of the library and the most advanced technologies to create a modern and highly popular educational, research and information centre.”
The Russian National Library was founded on May 27, 1795, in St Petersburg. It is the first public library in Russia. It has one of the largest library collections in the world (sixth of the top 10) and the second largest in Russia after the Russian State Library in Moscow.