GPLG Opens Small Libraries in Akhalkalaki Schools

The novel educational mission initiated by the National Library of Georgia (GPLG) to set up small libraries in the schools of relatively deprived Georgian towns and villages continues its mission in Akhalkalaki.

"The great educational movement continues - in Akhalkalaki, which has invited us to true Javakheti weather - minus 20 degrees, clouded by snow and wind. We visited 12 villages, and this time we set up small libraries in three schools in Burnasheti and Baraleti (Georgian and Armenian)”, reads the Facebook post by the General Director of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, Giorgi Kekelidze.

Following his appointment as Director in 2012, Kekelidze has gained due respect as the initiator of a myriad of reforms directed at the library’s sustainment and advancement. Georgian libraries have been opened in Istanbul, Kiev, and Vienna. He has created a library based on e-learning, uniting several regional libraries. As a result of Kekelidze’s activities in 2012, the National Library was awarded with the name of Tolerance of the Year.

In 2017, on Kekelidze's initiative, the biggest Book Museum in Georgia was founded, aimed at providing space for various educational meetings and seminars.

In 2020, some of the most vital advancements pioneered by Kekelidze include the opening of a Georgian Library within the University of Qatar; the opening of The Folklore Hall in Building 2 of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, as part of a joint mission to support and promote the Georgian chant tradition and other forms of Georgian folklore; collaboration with the France’s Bibiliotèque Mazarine, to name just a few.

By Elene Dzebisashvili