The Bibliyatechny Svet magazine is the first authoritative professional periodical of the library community of Belarus. Since its foundation, the magazine has come a long way, winning honor and respect in the sphere of culture, science and education. Let us recall the main stages of the historical development of this publication.
In the mid-90s of the twentieth century, the release of a new library periodical became a truly historic event, since the community of information workers felt a great need for its own recognized printed organ. The prerequisites for the release of the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine were several issues of the Bulletin of the Belarusian Library Association, but a publication was required that would cover a large readership.
In the conditions of limited financial resources, a search for a publisher began, which at first did not bring the desired result. The situation changed when Galina Aleinik, the president of the Belarusian Library Association, at that time the director of the National Library of Belarus, an honored cultural figure of the Republic of Belarus, found support in the person of Anatoly Kumachyov, the director of the publishing house "Krasiko-Print". The magazine began to be published on a voluntary basis. It reflected the most important events of the library community of Belarus and the activities of the Belarusian Library Association. That is why it received a very capacious name - "Bibliyatechny Svet". In 1996, the first editor-in-chief of the magazine was Natalia Beryozkina, head of the department of scientific and organizational work of the Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The young editorial board included: Lyudmila Kiryukhina, deputy editor-in-chief, deputy director for scientific work of the National Library of Belarus and three members – Roman Motulsky, associate professor of the library science department of the Belarusian University of Culture, Vladimir Shishkin, chief specialist in libraries of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and Raisa Sukhorukova, deputy director of the Republican Scientific and Technical Library. The work was difficult, but interesting. Vladimir Soroko, who replaced Galina Aleinik as president of the Belarusian Library Association, also made an invaluable contribution to the popularization of this publication. Over time, "Bibliyatechny Svet" officially replenished the catalog of periodicals of the Republic of Belarus. At the beginning of 2010, the National Library of Belarus assumed the functions of the publisher of the journal "Bibliyatechny Svet". In 2012, Lyudmila Kiryukhina, under whose leadership the publication is still being published, replaced Natalia Beryozkina as editor-in-chief. 2012 became a year of modernization for the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine, a change in cover design and the introduction of new unique color schemes, so recognizable to everyone today.
On September 16, 2016, the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary in the framework of the international round table "Professional Media and Their Impact on Professional Competencies". The anniversary event brought together representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Workers of Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism, heads of the largest libraries in the country, representatives of foreign and domestic professional media, as well as partners of the magazine. The participants of the round table discussed the strategy for the further development of the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine. Since October 3, 2016, the public page of the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine appeared on the Facebook social network for the first time. It has increased the efficiency of interaction with authors, advertisers and regular readers of our publication, and the editorial staff has been given the opportunity to promptly reflect information about the release of new issues, which colleagues are so eagerly awaiting. Many years of experience working with the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine has allowed us to attract and build strong partnerships with higher education institutions, publishing houses, bookselling companies and advertising companies both in the Republic of Belarus and far beyond its borders. Six times a year, various companies place their advertising materials in the publication on a contractual basis. The editorial staff of the Bibliyatechny Svet magazine closely cooperates with the Faculty of Information and Document Communications of the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts within the framework of career guidance work and popularization of the library profession. It is gratifying that many teachers constantly use the materials of the journal when planning seminars for students, and practicing librarians actively study publications as part of their self-education.
Constant interaction with the RUE "Belpochta" has increased the effectiveness of distributing the journal "Bibliyatechny Svet" among public libraries; republican regional libraries; republican branch libraries; libraries of all institutions of higher education of Belarus. Systematic work is being carried out to popularize this professional publication among managers and specialists within the framework of library conferences, seminars, and forums, round tables, advanced training and retraining programs. The editorial board of the journal "Bibliyatechny Svet" strives to constantly improve the quality of the publication in order to expand the subscription area and increase the circulation. Work is underway to include this publication in the catalogs of periodicals of the CIS countries. The journal "Bibliyatechny Svet" has been successfully sold at the kiosk of the National Library of Belarus for many years. Fresh issues of the publication are annually presented at the stands of the Belarusian Library Association and the National Library of Belarus within the framework of the Minsk International Book Fair. Current library periodicals and serials are always available on the days of the grand opening of the International Bibliological Readings and the International Congress "Library as a Cultural Phenomenon". Our products have been repeatedly awarded with honorary certificates and diplomas of various degrees and departments.
On November 14, 2024, by the decision of the meeting of the Academic Council of the State Institution "National Library of Belarus", as a result of the merger of the scientific collection "Bibliyatechny Vesnik" and the popular science journal "Bibliyatechny Svet –hjh Library World", the popular science publication "Bibliyatechny Svet / Library World" was formed. During the optimization, the journal included scientific publications on pedagogical (library science, bibliography and book science), philological sciences and art history. The volume increased from 32 to 80 pages, the quality of articles improved, and the readership expanded. In July 2025, the popular science journal "Bibliyatechny Svet/Bibliotechny Mir" joined the "ejournal.by" platform of the NEICON company (Russia). Since January 2025, the editor-in-chief of the journal is Aleksander Babuk, PhD in Philology, Deputy Director General - Director for Science and Information Technology of the National Library of Belarus.
The editorial board of the journal "Bibliyatechny Svet/Bibliotechny Mir" sincerely thanks all the authors, partners and friends of this publication, its regular readers and subscribers. All those who stood at the origins of the birth of the journal and continue the long-standing tradition, people who care about the future of librarianship in the Republic of Belarus.
