Georgian authors, awards mark 10th anniversary of Tbilisi multimedia libraries
The event celebrated the 2013 launch of the libraries, modelled after the French mediatheque model, in the Georgian capital to offer resources, spaces for reading and work, as well as physical libraries to residents of the city. Photo via Tbilisi multimedia libraries
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Popular Georgian authors Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, Nestan Kvinikadze and Archil Kikodze on Wednesday joined audiences to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of multimedia libraries across Tbilisi, in a discussion on the role of the venues offering access to literature and multimedia resources to visitors.
The event celebrated the 2013 launch of the libraries, modelled after the French mediatheque model, in the Georgian capital to offer resources, spaces for reading and work, as well as physical libraries to residents of the city.
In the anniversary celebration, staff of the libraries in the city, and some of their most active users, were awarded by Ninia Matcharashvili, the Director of the Union of Tbilisi Multifunctional Multimedia Libraries, while the featured authors and library professionals working at the venues offered their comments on the date.
Photo via Tbilisi multimedia libraries
Kikodze, recognised for his writing on the natural world and travel, told Agenda.ge having modern spaces offered by the libraries was “important in the modern digital world”.
Georgian authors from left to right Archil Kikodze, Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, Nestan Kvinikadze Photo via Tbilisi multimedia libraries
Marina Bukhrashvili, a curator at the multimedia library of the Vake district of the city, said the initiative for launching the venues “proved to be a step forward in the library business, replacing an old-fashioned system [...] [with] a new, modern look”.
Photo: Agenda.ge
Her colleague Nino Labadze added their venue had “found a great interest among readers”.
Photo: Agenda.ge
The multimedia library launched in the Vake Park recreational space in 2013 was the first such space in Tbilisi, before a sister venue opened in the Varketili district later the same year, and another followed in Nadzaladevi in 2017. The three libraries serve over 30,000 users.
Maka Nasrashvili, Photo via Tbilisi multimedia libraries
Maka Nasrashvili, the Deputy Head of the Municipal Department of Culture, Education, Sport and Youth Affairs of the Tbilisi City Hall, has revealed plans for launching three more spaces in the capital to serve residents of Varketili, Zghvisubani and Didi Dighomi districts.