The ceremony of awarding the winners of the programme of the US Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation was held at the National Library of Turkmenistan. The special commission selected the project of the restoration laboratory and advanced training for library specialists on book preservation and restoration designed by the specialists of the oldest library in Turkmenistan among numerous projects presented by the national cultural institutions to the contest.
As is known, the National Library with the unique book depository including several millions of the volumes opened over 100 years ago moved three years ago to the new building which has all necessary equipment for creating the comfortable conditions for clients as well as the priceless books. This project will allow employing in full the potential of the National Library to save the rare publications with the old binding and pages. Through using advanced technologies and practices applied at the world’s largest book depositories Turkmen specialists will be able to prolong the life of the valuable books.
The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation provides direct grant support to cultural heritage preservation projects in developing countries. The program was established by the U.S. Congress in 2001. To date, the Ambassadors Fund has supported more than 500 projects worldwide. Funded projects include technical support for the restoration of historic buildings, assessment and conservation of museum collections, archaeological site preservation, documentation to save threatened traditional crafts, improved storage conditions for archives and manuscripts and documentation of indigenous languages. Over the past six years, the U.S. Government has supported 12 projects to preserve historically important cultural sites and monuments in Turkmenistan. These projects provide for research, restoration and conservation of the Ismamyt – the Ata Mausoleum dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries in Dashoguz Velayat and Shir-Kebir (Mashad Ata) Mosque of the 9th and 10th century in Ancient Dehistan (Etrek Etrap, Balkan Velayat).