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On November 3 the Chairman of RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport organized parliamentary hearings on two bills in the same field.

The preliminary draft law of RA Law on Library Services submitted by the RA government and by the faction Country of Law and the RA draft law passed in the first reading on Making Amendments and Addenda to RA Law on Compulsory Example of the Documents/Ratification Instruments submitted by the government were put for debate.

The NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, deputies, specialists of the library services and directors of the libraries took part in the debate.

Before beginning the work the participants got acquainted with the exhibition of the various books and albums, which was organized in the Green Hall of the National Hall by the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

Thanking the NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan and the Chairman of RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Artak Davtyan RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan for the support, said that about 280 books, which were published during the last years, being shown there were donated to the NA library.

RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan also gave albums of the Armenian painters as presents to the NA Speaker.

The Committee Chairman in his answer thanked RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan for valuable donation and expressed hope that such exhibitions would be continuous and the other libraries would also add their collections.

Opening the parliamentary hearings Artak Davtyan urged those present to introduce their views, remarks and proposals on the bills, which would be discussed and included in the edited versions of the bills.

The NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan addressed welcoming speech to the participants of the hearings. The NA Speaker noted: “The continuity of the parliamentary best traditions gives us opportunity to jointly work, comprehensively discuss direct dialogue and issues. Within the framework of the specification of cultural policy, organization of the library services with the tendency of the definition of the guarantees of the state support, formation of the library collection and the creation of the bases of transferring the heritage we have met to exchange ideas and find effective solutions.

In accordance with the state cultural policy of RA Law on the Bases of the Cultural Legislation, the main goals are four: the realization of the culture by the society as means of development, the search of new values and new ideas, the creation of conditions for the creative potential, reproduction and development of the society, and the formation of the civil society.

In observing the reference from the view of the library services it becomes clear that the libraries are the best place and means for the formation of the cultural consciousness, revelation of the values of the past and present and reproduction. The striving of the formation of the civil society is realistic for any country, if in the given country the preconditions of information society are created. It means when every member of the society can look for, find, receive or obtain awareness directed to the satisfaction of its interests and mental needs.

The libraries are considered one of the most important circles of the information adding, systemizing and providing information needs of the society.

Therefore, our task is to create a legislative field, as a result of which the libraries can promote the inter-cultural dialogue, formation of the creative man and developing society.

The independence brought a new format of social-economic relations, which are not possible to normalize in all spheres. The relations connected with the library services are normalized through decisions made in general and interim way.

Whereas, the relations, the format of the interests and the traditional ways of the supply have been essentially changed. The possibilities of turning into adding and updating the library collections, upgrading the material base, improvement of the building and working conditions, training of the personnel, various ways of organizing the services are of concern. These are all problems, which will be included in the amendments of the law.

The libraries have turned from centralized system into independent various networks. Today, about 900 community libraries, 10 regional libraries, branch libraries, libraries of state bodies and different organizations and personal libraries are functioning.

However, in general, the library fund has not been added for 20 years. The community libraries should be especially cared, as they, in fact, should serve as main circles for cultural communication and access for necessary information. The minimum that should be done is the provision of the dailies and access of the Internet in every community library. The head of the community should have relevant compulsory authorities for getting care for the cultural life.

The maintenance of the children-youth literature and school libraries is the problem of retaining the national character. It’s not accidental that the staff member of the school library is also classified on the list of the teachers’ personnel. However, on the other hand the school libraries have been turned into textbook stores, but not the environment of self-development or cultural communication. As the opportunities given to the information technologies seem tempting, the immediate contact of the forming man with the book has in comparatively positive influence. In maintaining the national identity the role of the library and the book is irreplaceable in comprehensive upbringing of the generations and realization of the continuous education. I think that it is necessary to more deeply analyze the list of the formation of the public commissioning.

The challenges of the developing world and the unlimited possibilities of the information technologies make the traditional functions add versions of technical service. Therefore, the adding of the information with different carriers and their supply should be in library services. The issue of the personnel training, which should result in the owning of the progressive experience, flexibility of the supply and owning of the response abilities, becomes a prior task. It will be desirable to reach the creation of the national electronic card-catalogue, which today is implemented in the condition of the annual rent (twenty-six mln drams).

The aim of the European Cultural Convention is to encourage the study of the languages, history and civilizations being general for everybody. In this aspect, progressive precedents, which sometimes are also supported by the state, are created in the country. For example, Arev/Sun system for the persons with the sight difficulty or the digitalization of the school programmes by Yerevan Research Institute of Mathematical Machines or the digitalization of the whole bibliography or the gradual digitalization of the national library fund and other such progresses. Those are progresses, which guarantee the protection of the national funds and the provision of their heredity, the inclusion in the world cultural family and public declaration. I hope that as a result of our joint efforts, a legislative field will be created, which will promote the implementation of all progressive initiatives, the library culture will be strengthened, and it will become a center of the civilizations’ dialogues.

I am convinced that today’s discussions will be inclined to reveal the existing all problems and solve them in a right way. I would like to wish success to our today’s joint work and call on to discuss with maximum warmth and detail the existing all problems. And me, as NA Speaker, within my liabilities, will try to do my best for assisting in the solution of the library problems.”

The keynote speaker of the bills RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan noted that the RA bill on Library Services had been edited, taking into account the experience of the American and a number of European countries, which had three hundred years of history.

The co-author of the united bill on Library Services, the head of the Country of Law faction Heghine Bisharyan presented her position on the bill.

According to the observation of many speakers, the two bills need thorough editing and specification.

In his her final speech RA Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan said that all the proposals sounded there would be discussed and the concerning provisions would be specified.