Spiritual revival of society and the Orthodox book

On May 26–27, as part of the ХXII International Cyril and Methodius Readings, the annual science and practical conference “Spiritual revival of society and the Orthodox book” on the topic “The book and reading in spiritual culture of the nation” took place.

The conference, which was held at the Central Library of the Belarusian Exarchate, was attended by about 100 people: employees of public, university and church libraries, as well as teachers and priests.

Over 40 specialists from public libraries of the Ministry of Culture of Belarus represented all the regions of the country.

The conference participants were welcomed by Bishop of Borisov and Marjina Gorka Benjamin , Chairman of the Synodal Department for Religious Education and Catechesis of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and Senior Priest of the parish of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All the Afflicted" Archpriest Igor Korostelyov .

Bishop Benjamin emphasized the role of libraries in modern society: "The main purpose of library is the preservation and dissemination of moral values accumulated by mankind in history. The library also helps contemporary man to orient in a variety of literary sources and find the book which will contribute to the spiritual and moral development. "

Senior Priest Archpriest Igor Korostelyov, in turn, thanked the organizers for choosing the parish of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All the Afflicted" as the site for the conference: "From our side we will do our best to you, dear participants of the conference, so that you feel comfortable and can share your thoughts. This conference proves once again that the printed book is in demand in modern society. "

Head of the conference, chief librarian of еру Library science department of the National Library O. A. Rynkevich made a presentation on the results of cooperation between libraries of our country within the framework of the Agreement on Cooperation of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church. She recalled the main events held in 2015 & ndash; the beginning of 2016 for libraries working for spiritual and moral education: the I Republican contest "The library as a core of spiritual enlightenment and education” (established in early 2015 by the Belarusian Exarchate); section "Spiritual education through the activities of libraries" within the framework of the III International Congress "The library as a cultural phenomenon" in the National Library of Belarus; the round table "The book and reading as the spiritual heritage of Orthodoxy in the culture of the Belarusian people" within the framework of the I Belarusian Christmas Readings in the BGUK library; the seminar "The history of the Orthodoxy in Belarus: the experience and methodology of study” as part of the celebration of the Day of the Orthodox Book; the annual conference "The spiritual revival of society and the Orthodox book" which in 2003 became the starting point for the cooperation between church, public and school libraries and will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary in 2017.

The Head of section of the Presidential Library of the Republic of Belarus A. R. Korolevich analyzed the results of a joint educational project of the Presidential Library and the Minsk City Institute for Education Development “ Since the dawn of the century the book raises human”. Her report was anticipated by a short and colorful video about the work of the library within the bounds of the project.

The reports of the permanent participants of the conference – the Central Regional Library in Borisov named after I.H. Kolodeev and the Library-branch № 3 named after J. Kupala in Polotsk presented interesting new forms of work with readers. The report of the librarian of the local history center of the Central Regional Library named after I.H. Kolodeev L. L. Tikhanovich "Perpetuation of the memory of the residents of the Borisov region" was about a joint activity of the library and deaneries to establish I.H. Kolodeev cenotaph in the temple of the Holy Trinity in Borisov, and the memorial in the temple of the Holy Trinity in the village Bytcha dedicated to the fallen on the battlefields of the World War II.

The report of the librarian of the Library-branch № 3 named after J. Kupala in Polotsk O.V. Bakunovich "Spiritual and moral foundations of cadet education" drew attention to the experience of a new category of readers & ndash; students of the Cadet School in Polotsk & ndash; based on spiritual and moral traditions rooted in the education system in the Polotsk Cadet Corps of the pre-revolutionary period.

The Director of the Centralized Library System of the Osipovichi district A.G. Hlus presented the report "Activities of libraries in support of the formation of spiritual and moral foundations of the modern family". The results of the republican competition "The library as a center of spiritual enlightenment and education" confirm the fact that society pays not enough attention to this direction of the library activity. Of 187 works submitted to the contest, only 17 were submitted in nomination "The family as a heir to the spiritual and moral values". Therefore the work experience presented to the participants of the conference in her report is especially valuable. In order to strengthen the family and its moral foundations, the libraries of the Osipovichi district solve a complex task working within the framework of the programs "Family chronicles are the eternal values ","Peace begins with the family, organizing a district conference"Family reading as a means of spiritual and moral formation of the person", developing a web project "Education of the heart", which will be aimed at the solution of problems involving the younger generation education in the best literary samples.

Librarians and teachers of educational institutions of the Republic of Belarus took an active part in the conference. Most speakers ( I.N. Komar, E.N Volchek, L.P. Kuzmenkova, N.G. Bogomolova, Y..T. Gilmullina and others) presented the experience in the spiritual and moral education through reading classic literature and poetry, exploring the musical compositions in secondary schools of the republic.

In this series, a special mention deserves the report of the Director of secondary school № 2 in Polotsk, M.Ed. S. M. Valyushkina "On some issues of organization of spiritual and moral education of students on the basis of orthodox traditions of the Belarusian people." It summed up the work of educational institutions, including the library as its structural unit, for spiritual enlightenment and education in close cooperation with the Diocese of Polotsk. The main outcome of the work on spiritual and moral education is to develop a healthy climate in the team and a permanent increase in the level of spiritual and moral development of students.

An interesting experience in patriotic education of vocational college students in collaboration with its alumni, and now the clergy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, shared the librarian of the Luninets state vocational college of agricultural production N.N. Domashevich . Her report "Patriotic education in the Orthodox tradition" sounded emotionally and aroused great response from the audience.

The speech of the librarian of the BSU Fundamental Library L.I. Yankovich "The young shoots of spiritual poetry: the results of the literary competition "Slavic Kaleidoscope" among students of the Belarusian State University" was decorated with the performance of the representatives of the "young shoots". The poetic creativity of the student of the BSU Saints Methodius and Cyrill Theology Institute Catherine Stroylova and the student the BSU University of Philology Alina Karpitsky inspired the conference participants.

During the presentations and discussions, a wide range of topical spiritual and moral problems of the modern society were covered: the Orthodox tradition as the basis of spiritual culture of the Belarusian people, spirituality and the problems of reading in society, spirituality and reading of children, issues of library activities in the field of spiritual and moral education, and many others.

В рамках конференции также состоялась презентация новой книги белорусского писателя Николая Гаврилова “Господь, мы поднимаемся. Хроника детского крестового похода”. The conference also hosted a presentation of a new book by the Belarusian writer Nikolai Gavrilov.

The participants of the event could visit an exhibition of novelties of the Belarusian Exarchate Publishing House whose staff prepared an overview of publications.

With the blessing of the Bishop of Borisov and Marjina Gorka Benjamin, all participants of the conference received as a gift books by Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) and A.I. Osipov.

All the reports and messages presented by library professionals from all departments show their creative approach to professional tasks, search for innovative forms of work, and as a whole a systematic and purposeful activity in these libraries on the spiritual and moral education of the population. All papers and reports will be published on the conference website Православные библиотеки Беларуси (The Orthodox libraries of Belarus).