On May 16, the Head of State signed the Decree "On Measures to Develop a Culture of Reading and Form a Reading Nation." The document aims to develop human capital, strengthen society's intellectual potential, and increase citizens' interest in reading.
In pursuance of the President's instructions, the Ministry of Culture and Information is implementing a set of measures to modernize the library sector, promote reading, and expand access to knowledge. Digitalization is particularly important in this area.
Today, one of the key tools for accessing the national written heritage is the Kazakhstan National Electronic Library (KazNEB). The portal brings together books, rare documents, manuscripts, periodicals, dissertations, archival materials, audio and video files, maps, and other digital resources. Since the beginning of 2026, the number of views of KazNEB materials has exceeded 3.6 million. The number of deleted users reached 295,116, and the number of downloads of electronic copies reached 891,551.
During this period, 2,506 electronic copies were uploaded to the electronic library's collection, 437 documents were processed, and 127,555 pages were scanned. KazNEB's total collection currently comprises 86,315 documents, including over 10,000 digitized manuscripts and rare books.
The resource is used by readers from more than 122 countries. The most active users are from Kazakhstan, China, Russia, the United States, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Germany, France, and Kyrgyzstan. Electronic documents are available in 70 languages.
All materials are available for viewing on the portal without registration. The KazNEB collection includes collections such as "Books Published under State Programs," "Rare Documents and Manuscripts," "Library of Turkic-Speaking Countries," and other sections.
This work will be further strengthened by the creation of the National Digital Library Platform. It will integrate electronic catalogs, digital collections, educational resources, and modern services, providing citizens with access to Russian literature, scholarly publications, rare books, and archival materials regardless of their place of residence.