Russian State Library to Digitize Its Archive for 200 Billion Rubles: Timeline, Technology and Strategy

The scope of the project: 200 billion rubles and two thousand years

In October 2026, Russian State Library Director General Vadim Duda named a precise figure for fully digitizing the institution's archival holdings: 200 billion rubles. According to him, the estimate is based on an average cost of 10 rubles per page for digital conversion. But this is only a rough figure — it doesn't account for restoration, document preparation, metadata creation, or the subsequent storage of digital copies.

The library's director described the numbers as approximate, but he was candid about the current state of affairs: at today's pace, digitizing the entire collection would take nearly two thousand years. Even so, the process hasn't stalled — tens of thousands of works are converted to digital format every year.

Scale and technology

The Russian State Library's collection totals roughly 200 million holdings. These include:

• 300,000 rare books • 500,000 manuscripts • A collection of documents in 367 languages • Specialized collections of maps, musical scores, sound recordings, and dissertations

As of October 8, 2026, about 1.2 million items have been converted to digital format, including 150,000 unique manuscripts and book monuments.

To speed up the process, the RSL is using robotic scanning systems capable of up to 3,000 pages per hour. This allows for a substantial increase in throughput without expanding staff numbers.

Funding and selection strategy

The digitization effort relies on mixed funding, combining government subsidies allocated through the federal "Digital Culture" project with the library's own extra-budgetary revenue.

Vadim Duda stressed that digitization isn't treated as an end in itself. The work follows a selective, strategic, phased approach. Priority is given to converting into digital format:

• Book monuments and rare editions • Documents of special historical value • Materials of cultural and scientific significance • Documents in high demand among readers and the research community

This approach lets the RSL maximize the public benefit of every ruble spent and concentrate efforts on materials of greatest significance for science, culture, and society.

The library's broader context

As of 2025, the Russian State Library ranks among the world's three largest libraries, with 128 million holdings. The library is classified as a particularly valuable object of national heritage and is considered the property of the peoples of Russia. Its manuscript collection is part of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation.

Nearly 4,000 people visit the RSL each day, and about 200 new readers register. Virtual reading rooms, located in 80 cities across Russia and neighboring countries, serve more than 8,000 visitors a day. The library grants reading-room access to all citizens of Russia and other countries who are 18 or older.