On 13-19 August, the 82nd General Conference and Assembly of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) took place in Columbus, Ohio (USA). The theme of this annual congress of library and information services sector was Connections. Collaboration. Community.

Since 2010, Renaldas Gudauskas, 58, has been the director general of the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania (Mazvydas was the author of the first printed book in the Lithuanian language, which was published in 1547, and, therefore, the Lithuania’s national library is named after him).

On 23 June 2016, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania was visited by a delegation from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, who was introduced to the results of the YIVO Vilnius Project phase one.

The ongoing Venice Architecture Biennale has a Baltic pavilion, where the National Library is represented by a small, 40-page methodical book “Moving Whole Wooden Farmhouses from Farmsteads to Kolkhozes” (“Neišardytų medinių trobesių perkėlimas iš vienkiemių į kolūkių gyvenvietes”) by V. Grincevičius and J. Mikuckas, published in 1954 by the State Political and Academic Literature Publishing House.

The 160-th birth anniversary of the first director of the National Library of Lithuania (at that time – Vilnius Public Library), Professor Eduardas Volteris (1856-1941), was commemorated at the international conference in Kaunas on May 5, 2016. The conference also marks the beginning of the events celebrating the Library's 100-year anniversary in 2017.

The Embassy of Switzerland in Lithuania presented a gift to the Director-General of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas from Switzerland’s Pro Helvetia cultural fund – the book compiled by Diccon Bewes “Around Switzerland in 80 Maps”, a selection of historical and modern maps and planners reflecting the history of Switzerland, territorial changes, the development of Switzerland’s connection system and even the view from space.

The Ambassador of the USA Ms Deborah A. McCarthy visited the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania on 3 May. She saw the Library’s collection of Judaica documents.

On 3–4 April, there was the meeting of the UNIMARC Permanent Committee of the International Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) at the National Library of Portugal. The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania was represented by the Director of the Information Sciences Department Dr. Nijolė Bliūdžiuvienė, who participated at the meeting as a member of the Permanent Committee.

On March 16, The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania hosted the visit of the Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York Dr. Jonathan Brent and this Institute’s Acting Chief Archivist Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova. During the meeting with the manager of the YIVO Vilnius Project and Director of the Information Sciences Department Dr. Nijolė Bliūdžiuvienė, Deputy Director-General for the Development of Information Resources and Services Sandra Leknickienė and Deputy Director-General for the Infrastructure Aidas Sinkevičius, they discussed the progress of the YIVO Vilnius Project and its perspectives for the two coming years.

On 11–16 March, the Director-General of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas participated at the international seminar “Territorial Matrices as Requirement for Integrated Cultural Landscape Management” in Mação, Portugal. This event, organized by the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, is part of the continuous international project “Science Communication in the Content of Social Networks”. At the seminar, Renaldas Gudauskas presented the report “Science Communication in the Content of Social Networks”.

On February 25–27, Director General of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas participated in the celebration of the inauguration of the renovated building of the National Library of Finland. The quests of the event had an opportunity to visit historical premises and to get acquainted with the activities and functions of the library.

On December 8, the Document Conservation Centre of the National Library of Lithuania received the guest  – Bogdan Filip Zerek, the head of the new structural unit of the National Library of Poland – the Institute of Conservation of Library Collections.

On November 20–21, Vilnius cultural and academic community celebrated the 525th anniversary of Francisk Skorina, the first Belarusian printer and Bible scholar, establisher of the first printing house in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On this occasion, the Belarusian club “Siabryna”, the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, the Lithuanian Association of Belarusians, and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Lithuania invited to the international conference „The Tradition of Book of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania“ attended by old writing and old book specialists from Lithuania and Belarus. The Director General of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Renaldas Gudauskas also participated in the conference.