On 6th January, the Speaker of the Parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen met with the Director General of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas.
Dear All,
At the junction of the old and the new year, we traditionally think over the expiring twelve-month period. In 2020, we lived and acted under the conditions of the global pandemic. There have been complicated situations, risky solutions, unfulfilled expectations, but we succeeded to stick together, persist and anchor ourselves within these “decomposing forms”.
Dear visitors, the National Library is closed on public holidays. On the last working day before the public holiday, namely on the 23rd and 31st of December, the library will close one hour earlier.
After receiving support from the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania obtained a hundred and thirty unique printed and manuscript documents.
On 15 December this year, Director-General of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for the period of 2021–2024. On 16 December, Director-General Renaldas Gudauskas, who is representing memory institutions, participated at the first meeting.
Starting with 7 November 2020, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania will operate in compliance with the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania “On the Introduction of a Nation-Wide Quarantine” by ensuring the satisfaction of the State-level requirements set for major emergencies as well as requirements for public health and hygiene. We would like to thank the Library’s visitors for understanding and responsibility.
Acting Minister of Culture Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas awarded this year's Ministry of Culture awards to workers and creators, who were most deserving across various areas of culture and art. When congratulating the laureates, the Minister said that today those who are honored and rewarded are the ones responsible for tirelessly creating and nurturing Lithuanian culture. Head of Judaica research centre of the Department of documentary heritage research of the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library, Dr. Lara Lempertienė was awarded the prize for scientific research for bibliothecography, bibliography, book science research and practical activities in libraries.
On 23 November, there was a remote discussion dedicated to “Tsen Lider. Ten poems. Dešimt eilėraščių” by Avrom Sutzkever. This book was published this year by the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and the Jewish Research Institute in New York (YIVO).
Curator of the exhibition „Shenot Eliyahu/Elijah’s Years: The impact of Vilna Gaon on Lithuanian Jewish Culture”, Head of the Judaica Department of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania dr. Lara Lempertienė invites you to a virtual tour, where you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the unique exhibits of the exhibition.
In 2017, a cache of Jewish materials was discovered in the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. The discovery included a manuscript of „Tsen Lider“ („Ten Poems“), a collection written and compiled by Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever while living in the Vilna Ghetto. This unique manuscript includes variants of later published poems and preserves Sutzkever's original spelling and punctuation. Sutzkever's manuscript, along with the other materials found in 2017, are being digitized as part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections Project.
The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is providing remote services. They encompass plenty of possibilities for the reading and learning people by providing interactive learning programmes, remote learning, lessons in history and heritage, etc. The National Library‘s virtual platform supports not only learning and self education but also leisure activities and we strongly recommend to use it.
Dear visitors, please be reminded that the National Library is closed during public holidays so it will not be open to the public on the 1st and 2nd of November. The Library’s opening hours are one hour shorter on a day before a public holiday thus our Library will be open until 5:00 pm on the 31st of October.
The evening of 20 October saw the opening of the exhibition of publications and documents culminating the Year of the Vilna Gaon “Shenot Eliyahu / Elijah’s Years: the Impact of the Vilna Gaon on the Lithuanian Jewish Culture”. During the formal opening ceremony, the word shalom resounded time and again under the National Library’s vaults, a Hebrew word for wishing peace of mind and safety.
“The Torah herself spoke: I am the wisdom that has found refuge in the soul of Elijah, and through him I have become known throughout the world,” — this fragment of the epitaph, carved in the tombstone of Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, perfectly reveals the significance of this sage, better known as the Vilna Gaon, not only to the Jewish culture of Lithuania, but also to the whole world. Therefore, commemorating the year of Vilna Gaon and Lithuanian Jewish history, announced by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania prepared an exhibition, “Shenot Eliyahu/Elijah’s Years: The impact of Vilna Gaon on Lithuanina Jewish Culture” consisting of publications and documents.
In marking the significant role of the Jews of Lithuania and the vast influence of their diverse activities and culture during the entire history of the State of Lithuania from the middle of the 13th Century to the present day, the Seimas of Lithuania has declared 2020 the Year of the Vilna Gaon and of the History of the Jews of Lithuania.
22.09.2020–22.11.2020
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania invites visitors to the exhibition, displaying the works of the library workers.
On 17–20 August, Lithuania hosted the seminar of the national libraries of the Baltic countries LiLaEst2020, which took place in the Molėtai Region. This seminar is a biennial gathering of library professional from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania was represented by a team of the Library’s staff under the supervision of the Director General Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas.
The National Library of Lithuania congratulates its partner, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, upon the landmark event: the launching the first exhibition of its YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum: Beba Epstein: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Girl.
Dear visitors, please be reminded that the National Library is closed during public holidays so it will not be open to the public on the 15th of August. The Library’s opening hours are one hour shorter on a day before a public holiday thus our Library will be open until 8:00 pm on the 14th of August.
