The first specialized medical library in Belarus will open at the Vitebsk Medical University

January 20, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The first specialized medical library in Belarus will open at the Vitebsk State Medical University (VSMU). Construction and installation work at the facility, which is included in the state investment program, has been completed. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by VSMU Vice-Rector for Economic Affairs Igor Kosmin. Currently, work is underway in the library to install local networks, set up equipment, and arrange book collections. As planned by the state program, it will open its doors in the first half of 2011. Despite the fact that the library will operate at the university, all medical workers of the region will be able to become its readers, noted the acting head of the library Galina Vasilevskaya. They will have access to over 300,000 volumes of books, periodicals, electronic publications, abstract theses, and dissertations. The library will have three reading rooms: a regular one with 100 seats, a reading room for researchers, and an electronic one with 50 computer workstations. It is worth noting that textbooks and scientific literature from the university library's collections, as well as from other libraries, including the National Library, and databases of specialized publishers, will be available in digital format. The electronic reading room will also be accessible outside the library - it will be possible to work in it from a dormitory room using the local network. Approximately Br13 billion has been allocated for the project implementation.