On July 11, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The development path of a state depends on the level of youth awareness. This opinion was expressed today at a presentation in Vitebsk of albums from the "Encyclopedia of Rarities" series by the Director of the Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia Publishing House, Tatyana Belova, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "Sometimes, immature young minds are bombarded by information wars, a deluge of diverse information. Scientific books can help navigate this information flow by sharing knowledge about the nation's history, thereby fostering national self-awareness," said Tatyana Belova. She noted that the publishing house's landmark project, "Encyclopedia of Rarities," is aimed at these goals. The current year has been declared the Year of the Book. "For publishers, this is an occasion to consider how to retain and win back readers from mass culture today. This primarily depends on the books presented to them," believes the Director of the publishing house. It is irrelevant how readers, including young people, will read books – on netbooks, laptops, or tablets. "The main thing is that the book must first appear, with its material prepared by professionals in their field, and only then will this book reach the readers," concluded Tatyana Belova. In Vitebsk, Tatyana Belova participated in the presentation of the "Encyclopedia of Rarities" series and a new publishing project dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of Belarusian statehood, "Polotsk. 1150". Participants of the event, organised as part of the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" International Arts Festival, included representatives of local authorities, students, writers, and the city's public. -0-

BELTA