BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 27. A new digital library will be launched in Azerbaijan as part of ongoing efforts to modernize library and bibliographic services, the Ministry of Culture told TurkicWorld.
The Ministry of Culture oversees the National Library of Azerbaijan, the F. Kocharli Republican Children’s Library, the J. Jabbarli Republican Youth Library, the Republican Library for the Visually Impaired, as well as 75 centralized library systems.
In response to the inquiry, the ministry said that the total holdings of libraries operating under its system exceed 19 million books.
The ministry noted that in order to renew library collections and support the activities of publishing industry entities, it organizes the "Publications Purchase" competition every year. Based on decisions by a relevant commission composed of experts, books with high artistic, aesthetic, and content quality are selected and purchased.
"This process, which has already become a tradition, has been further expanded in recent years. In 2023, 546 titles in 41,098 copies were purchased; in 2024, 572 titles in 49,105 copies; and in 2025, 534 titles in 65,450 copies. Overall, during the past three years, a total of 1,652 titles in 155,653 copies have been acquired," the ministry said.
As part of the digitalization of library and bibliographic processes, the KOHA Automated Library Management System (KOHA) was introduced in centralized library systems in 2025.
According to the ministry, within the framework of this process, bibliographic data for more than 850,000 books have been entered into the electronic catalog.
"Work is currently underway to make a mobile electronic library application integrated with the KOHA system available for public use," the ministry added.
The ministry also provided details on book purchasing procedures and the criteria applied. It stated that the Commission for the Preparation of the Publishing Plan and the Purchase of Publishing Products has been established to prepare the publishing plan for the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and to organize the "Publications Purchase" competition.
"The commission is formed from specialists in the fields of culture, science, literature, education, and other relevant areas. When foreign publications are purchased, other experts in the library and publishing sectors may participate in commission meetings with an advisory vote and submit proposals. Every January, based on manuscripts submitted over the previous year and planned state orders, the commission prepares the publishing plan for the current year," the ministry said.
The priority topics and areas for the publishing plan include publications intended to meet state needs; works reflecting the results of scientific research in the field of culture; literary works with high artistic value; works on national customs and traditions, holidays, historical symbols, and toponyms; studies on Azerbaijani ethnography and folklore; works related to national cultural heritage and national cuisine; research on damage inflicted on the cultural sphere as a result of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan and acts of vandalism committed in Karabakh; high-quality works dedicated to the Patriotic War; textbooks, methodological manuals, and other publications for children’s music, art, and painting schools; works by prominent literary, artistic, and public figures, as well as studies, monographs, and memoirs about them; and new-content works covering various aspects of cultural assets.
It was noted that the inclusion of manuscripts in the publishing plan is considered based on applications submitted to the ministry.
"Each February, the commission organizes the ‘Publications Purchase’ competition. An announcement about the competition is published on the ministry’s official website and in other mass media, specifying the conditions for participation. Publications must be submitted to the commission within 30 days of the announcement date. Publications submitted after the deadline are not accepted. Publications that are deficient in content or printing quality, or have a total print run of less than 300 copies, including cases where each volume of multi-volume works has a print run of less than 300 copies, are not eligible for purchase," the ministry said.
Special attention is paid to the number of copies, copyright issues, and quality when purchasing manuscripts.
"Publishing houses, journal editorial offices, printing enterprises engaged in publishing activities, other legal entities, and authors (copyright holders) operating and/or located in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan may participate in the competition. Authors wishing to participate must have a taxpayer identification number or submit their publications through the publishing houses where their works were printed," the ministry emphasized.
The ministry also clarified the issue of author remuneration, noting that royalties are paid only for works prepared by order of the ministry.
"No royalties are provided for manuscripts published with the support of the ministry," the statement concluded.
