Book depository of Georgia - a grand old building

The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia in Tbilisi is the main book depository of cultural, educational, scientific, and informational material.

There are three buildings of the Ilia Chavchavadze National Parliamentary Library of Georgia (NPLG) on Lado Gudiashvili Street. The photographed building, with the grand architecture, is Building II.

It commenced as the Tiflis Public Library in 1846. As the books and materials accumulated, a new building was added in 1851. In 1868 it was amalgamated with the Caucasus Museum. In 1913 it was the Scientific Library of the Caucasus Museum. In 1914 it was closed for the construction of a new building. The books were stored in the basement for 10 years, and in 1923 it was named the Tiflis Public Library and Parliamentary Library, State Public Library of Georgia. In 1937 the library books within the Society for the Dissemination of Literacy among Georgians (1880-1927) were transferred to the building. In 1955 it was called the State Republic Library.

In 1989 the library purchased its first personal computer, and since 1990 it commenced the digitalization of its catalogue. In 1990 it changed its name again to the National Library of Georgia. In 1996 it came under the control of the Parliament of Georgia and was renamed the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. In 2000 it was named the Ilia Chavchavadze National Parliamentary Library of Georgia – its current name.

Ilia Chavchavadze was one of Georgia’s greatest literary figures. The statue in front of Building II is of Shota Rustaveli, Georgia’s famed 12th century poet, who wrote the epic poem The Knight in the Panther Skin.

Two of the buildings are of the 1850s, while the last one is more modern (the 1920s), but it is Building II that has the most decorative features. Building II is closed to the public. The elderly Georgian I met when I was taking the photographs still refers to it as the Caucasus Museum, and said it was closed. There are of course many museums and art galleries in Georgia, with the Georgian National Museum on the main street of Tbilisi, one street away from the National Parliamentary Library.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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