On March 14, the grand opening of the new building of the V.G. Rasputin Scientific Library of Irkutsk State University will take place in Irkutsk. The library, designed for two and a half million books, offers modern reading rooms and a unique storage for rare books. This is an important event for the cultural life of the Angara region, which will unite rich heritage and modern technology.

14 March will see the grand opening of the new building of the V.G. Rasputin Scientific Library at Irkutsk State University. The construction of the Scientific Library building, part of the federal targeted investment program, was completed at the end of 2015. The new cultural center of the capital of the Irkutsk region has been assigned the address – Irkutsk, Lermontova St., 124. Currently, part of the book and journal collections has already been moved to the new building, and the computer networks have been set up.
All scientific collections from four book storage facilities scattered across the city (in the Yubileyny district, on 5th Army St., Ulan-Batorskaya St., and in the White House) will be transferred to the new building, along with part of the educational libraries. The "Golden Fund" – the pride of the library and the university, which includes rare books, book monuments, and unique collections, the oldest of which date back to 1470, will also be housed here.
The history of the library dates back to 1918, with the establishment of the University in Irkutsk.
At that time, the university library was located in a small room of the former office of the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia. Currently, this building at 36 Gagarin Boulevard houses the Faculty of International Law of the Law Institute of ISU. Later, in 1939, the library moved to the White House – an architectural monument of Irkutsk, built in the first quarter of the 19th century for the family of merchant and first city mayor Mikhail Sibiryakov, designed by the famous architect Giacomo Quarenghi.
In 1980, a decision by the executive committee of Irkutsk allocated a land plot for the construction of a complex of buildings for the university. At that time, a decision was also made to construct a Regional Scientific and Technical Library, and a design assignment was approved.
The start of construction was set for 1983. In 1982, the State Institute for the Design of Higher Educational Institutions developed the library building project. However, for various reasons, construction only began in 1991, and by 1995 it was halted due to a lack of funding.
In 2006, ISU became a participant in the Federal Target Program for Education Development for 2006-2010. In the same year, the unfinished construction object, after adjustments to the project, was included in the federal target program for education development for 2011-2015, with plans for a building consisting of two parts: a 7-story main building and a 5-story annex. The estimated cost of the project was 683,420.12 thousand rubles, of which 10% were extrabudgetary funds from the university. Work to complete the construction intensified in 2012.
In October of last year, the work was completed. The percentage of technical readiness reached 100%. The permit for the building's commissioning was signed on December 30, 2015. The new ISU library building became one of the few objects included in the Federal Target Program, whose construction was completed on schedule in 2015.
The new library building is designed to hold two and a half million books weighing over two thousand tons. Six floors have been allocated for this number of volumes.
A separate storage facility with fireproof safe cabinets has been designated for rare books. Proper preservation of cultural heritage is ensured by a modern system: dust removal, air conditioning, and fire protection. Each storage area has its own temperature and humidity control.
From the first to the fifth floors, there are eleven reading rooms, both classical and multimedia. This includes a room for individuals with limited mobility, equipped with special lifts. Additionally, on the fifth floor of the library, there is a modern conference hall of 450 square meters, accommodating 250 people. This will help address the issue of gathering a large number of students at one time.