The All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature, named after M. I. Rudomino (VGBIL, “Foreigner”), is a federal library specializing in foreign literature (Moscow). Founded in 1921 as the library of the Neophilological Institute. It got its name in 1990 in honor of the founder and first director, Margarita Ivanovna Rudomino, who worked in the library from the moment it was opened until April 1973.
The new building with an area of 24,000 m² was completed by the beginning of 1965. The building had an eight-story bookstore, 14 reading rooms and a conference hall with 400 seats. By this time, the library fund was 4 million items, and the staff consisted of 700 people. The opening took place on May 31, 1967.
In 2015, two new international centers were opened: Francoteka for studying French culture and the Center for Slavic Cultures.
Together with the Eksmo publishing house, a project was developed for open access to electronic books, within the framework of which the regional offices of the library were to receive electronic copies of the fund.
In 2016, the book fund of the closed Library of Ukrainian Literature was transferred to the Center for Slavic Cultures. It has books from countries participating in the Forum of Slavic Cultures: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia.
In 2016, 85,000 people visited the institution. In 2017 – 155,000, with most new readers under 35.
On May 21, 2019, the Ibero-American Cultural Center was opened in the library, which aims to promote the cultures and languages of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. The library management also announced its intention to create a center of Italian culture. The creation of the Persoteka, similar to the Francoteka, was discussed with Iranian representatives.
On December 17, 2020, the Gutenberg Universe was opened in the library – the first multimedia center in the library space of Russia on the history of books and the book business.
Working days: Mon-Fri 11:00–21:00; Sat 11:00–19:00.
Address: Nikoloyamskaya street, 1, Moscow.
Nearest metro: Taganskaya, Kitay-gorod.
