The Economic Cooperation Organization attended the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the National Library of Azerbaijan, held in the capital city of Baku from Sep 20 to 22, 2023. Mr. Kashif Zaman, ECO’s Deputy Secretary General represented the organization during the event.
Delegates from over two dozen countries including Pakistan, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Macedonia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan took part in the events marking the 100-year journey of the Azerbaijan National Library which included International Scientific-Practical Conference on “National Libraries are the protectors of the spiritual memory of peoples”, the 27th annual meeting of the Assembly of Eurasian Libraries, and the 6th Meeting of ECO Board of Directors of National Libraries.
The 6th Meeting of ECO Board of Directors of National Libraries reaffirmed the resolve to further enhance cooperation among the National Libraries of Member States through frequent exchange of human and technical expertise. Mr. Kashif Zaman underscored the importance of transforming libraries into regional and global digital archives connecting students, teachers and researchers for enhancing sharing of information. He said the Member States, being at different stages of development, required greater investment in human resource development, particularly in education, in order to uplift the living standards of their people and the region as a whole.
The meeting also suggested creation of a ECO National Library by linking together the individual resources and the e-books catalogues of the Member States for better facilitation of readers. A Letter of Understanding between the National Libraries of Azerbaijan and Pakistan was also signed on the occasion to increase collaboration between the two sides. The Republic of Türkiye volunteered to host the next session of the meeting in 2025.
