International library news

National Digital Library to launch in Russia 

The Russian government has announced plans to launch a National Digital Library in 2015 that will give library branches access to wifi and the ability to offer ebooks, reports GoodEReader. The Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said the new service is ‘set to be the largest collection of online texts, books, magazines in Russia’, with access via a single electronic library card. Ebook suppliers are yet to be announced. Most libraries in Russia currently only offer academic and historical digital editions.

Writers protest Cardiff library cuts

In the UK, a number of writers have spoken out against proposed cuts to Cardiff libraries, which could see youth services slashed and several city libraries lose their funding or be closed down, reports WalesOnline. Jenny Sullivan, an author of adult and children’s fiction, said libraries were a ‘crucial resource’ for writers and warned that the quality of authors’ research could suffer if library services were cut. Writer and poet Sheenagh Pugh said the proposed cuts would be ‘more damaging’ than burning books. Public consultation over the proposed cuts closes on 12 January and a final budget decision will be made by the council on 26 February. The draft list of 200 proposed cuts to Cardiff’s public services was leaked to WalesOnline in November.

Category: Library news