The main entrance of Leninka opened after two years of restoration – Kommersant

The entrance to the main building of the Lenin Russian State Library opened after a large-scale restoration that began in 2021. Almost 2.5 thousand square meters were restored. m. library, including a large marble staircase. The Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova came to the opening and was met by the General Director of the RSL Vadim Duda.

“It is believed that about 120 million people walked along these stairs before the process of careful and serious restoration began, which lasted almost a year and a half,” said the Minister of Culture. She thanked about 3 thousand restorers for the work done.

In addition to recreating the historical appearance of the library’s interiors, the architects redid the layout of the premises. Now the wardrobe, information services and recording group are in one space. Ventilation has been restored in the library. Leninka now has infrastructure for readers with limited mobility.

Now a library card can be obtained in electronic format through Gosuslugi, on the Leninka website or through a mobile application. The reader will receive a QR code, which will serve as a pass and will replace the checklists by which books were previously received and returned.

“It is very important for us that it is in this place that the center of competence of all the digital work that is carried out in modern librarianship is concentrated. This is another thousand people who worked very seriously, took responsibility, learned again, because the whole process of digitalization is very complex, very new for all of us,” said the Minister of Culture.

Later, Leninka will have a storage system where you can leave your belongings. A coffee shop will open, accessible not only to readers, but also to library guests. Restoration of 22 sculptures on the pediment of the main building has already begun.

The entrance group of the main Leninka building was closed for restoration on September 1, 2021. You could enter the library through entrance No. 6. It was decided to carry out the restoration of the entrance group as a result of inspections of the library premises from 2019 to 2020. It turned out that the state of the building’s structure, its engineering systems and the decoration of the lobby did not meet modern operating standards.

Anastasia Larina