National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan

The National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan is the main state book depository in Tatarstan for national, republican, Russian and foreign publications. It holds over three million documents, including over 100,000 documents in the Tatar language and another 100,000 in foreign languages. It “is the centre of the propagation of the culture of the Tatar people, a unique public library performing the functions of acquisition, preservation and distribution of Tatar books and literature of the republic.”

The library is located in Kazan and is housed in a well-known historical mansion. The library officially opened as the city public library on 10 January 1865. It was started based upon the collection of Ivan Vtorov, a local bibliophile. The collection of 1,908 volumes (903 titles) was donated to the city by his son in 1844.