20^th April 2023, at the Oval Hall of the M.I.Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature there was held 6^th International Forum "Creating Future of Libraries" within the framework of April Library Moscow Agenda (ALMA) programme of annual international forum "Library Dialogue of the CIS States". The event was supported by the IFLA Russian Language Centre of the Russian State Library, Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO) and International Activities Section of the Russian Library Association. 

The theme of the meeting of 2023 was "Libraries of the Commonwealth within a Global Context". The discussions gathered specialists from 7 states of the CIS and 15 regions of Russia. They were young librarians, as well as heads and representatives of professional associations, students and teachers of library specialities.

The meeting was started by Pavel L. Kuzmin, director general of the M.I. Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature. The other guests of honour to greet the attendees were Mikhail D. Afanasiyev, president of Russian Library Association, and Tamara V. Nossenko, head of the IFESCCO Project department.

The issues of the discussions were contents of the strategic library documents, both national and international ones, targets and prospects of library business.

As it was worded by Vadim V. Duda (RSL, director general), libraries while staying institutes of reading, had to collect and preserve cultural heritage. Another side of their mission was shaping intellectual potential of the nation, for the latter had to be of primary importance in the conditions of the postindustrial society.

The group discussions which alongside others gathered young librarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, were devoted to discussing IFLA Strategy recommendations for the library field.

The ideas of the equitable access to information and resource-attracting matters (be that money or human potentials), organization of efficient communication within libraries and beyond them, as well as the issues of sensible priority-setting, etc. were supported by the forum attendees. However the concept of delegating leadership to the young could not be agreed to in full. Older librarians claimed they had lots of experience to share, while younger specialists were ready to take it up.

You are welcome to view the broadcast of the "Creating Future of Libraries" forum on the CULTURE.RF portal.

Videos of the "Library Dialogue of the CIS States" are available on the VKontakte webpage of the M.I. Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature.