Professionals at the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia restored 42 “unique” historical maps, thousands of books and newspapers throughout 2022, Natalia Elizbarashvili, the Library’s Head of the Conservation and Restoration Department, said on Wednesday in her summary of the institution’s work.
As part of the annual summary of its work, the Library said 4,807 pieces of documentary historical material had been brought up in condition throughout the year.
Photo from the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia's Facebook
Books, magazines and newspapers, sheets and maps were among the material, while librarians also produced over 10,000 boxes for the venue’s archival fond and rare editions.
The year also marked the completion of the restoration of the entire collection of materials on Ilia Chavchavadze - a publicist, author and a major figure of the country's 19th century national movement.
Another collection, involving documents related to the Society for Spreading Literacy Among Georgians - an organisation co-founded by Chavchavadze and a group of leading Georgian intellectuals in 1879 - was also restored in the past year.
Photo from the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia's Facebook
Finally, the Library launched the restoration of publications to be preserved at the Museum of the Georgian Press, unveiled recently at the venue and set to illustrate the history of Georgian journalism and works of publicists from the country.
Promoted as the principal scientific library of the country, the Parliamentary Library is structured under the lawmaking body as a recognition of its “exceptional national significance”.
Its history goes back to the founding of the Tbilisi Public Library during the Tsarist Russian rule of Georgia in 1846, with the institution moving into a new venue in the 1910s.
Recognised for its decorated grand interior halls and hosting exhibitions and cultural events throughout the year, it houses collections of Georgian and foreign literature and media, photographs and cartographic publications.
Book catalogues, multimedia, microfilms and digital documents join music sheets and other material in its vaults to illustrate public life and biographies of notable personalities from across the ages.