The Batumi Public Library has been the region's main cultural and educational

center for over a century.

The return of Ajara to the arms of its homeland in 1878, after its capture by the OttomanEmpire, is a special event in the history of Georgia. In order to restore and strengthen thecultural-literary activity, Georgian spirit, in parallel with the opening of schools and the spread ofGeorgian literacy, it was necessary to establish libraries in Ajara. Due to the current situation and economic difficulties, a positive solution to this issue was associated with great difficulties.Famous Georgian public figures led by Great Ilia Chavchavadze, fought tirelessly to bring a positive and successful resolution to this truly patriotic cause. The initiators of founding the library in Batumi were Mikheil Sharashidze and Terenti Tsereteli, teachers at the first Georgian school in Batumi, whose initiative was supported by the public figures active in Batumi at that time: Davit Kldiashvili, Grigol Volski and Ivane Meskhi. Despite the efforts of these people, it was not possible to create a library at the Georgian school. The Batumi members of the Third Group (The Third Das) appeared as helpers to the initiators of opening the library in Batumi, at that time which were led by the famous revolutionary Sasha Tsulukidze. The holding of a general meeting of the city's intelligentsia dedicated to the founding of the library on 31 October 1899 in the hall of the first Georgian school significantly accelerated opening of the library. The meeting was chaired by Nino Kikodze, the initiator of the founding of the library. The congregation accepted 108 signatories as members of the unopened library and elected six honorary members: P. Lominadze, Z. Abashidze, E. Berdzenishvili, Gr. Volski, Z. Berdzenishvili and Gr. Toidze, who donated 25-25 Rubles as a charity for the needs of the library. Public figures of the city were elected to the commission that ensured the activities of the new library: N. Kikodze, M. Mkheidze, M. Eliava, N. Berdzenishvili, T. Sabaeva and G. Mchedlishvili. Because the governments permit to open a library in the name of Mariam Mkheidze was about to expire, the committee was forced to immediately open the library and rent a small building near the so-called" Noori Bazar  (Currently the territory of the Art Museum). Thus, the first public library opened in Batumi in March 1900. The newspaper "Kvali" wrote: last week, the first public library was consecrated in Batumi. The library is located near to the market (Bazar), and it is visited by a lot of readers. “The authority of the newly created library grew day by day. In the first year, only periodicals were produced, which were presented in sufficient numbers in the library in Russian, Georgian and Armenian languages. from 1901, the library also began issuing books. The library was rapidly losing its position due to the fact that the existing book collection could not be properly filled and did not meet the requirements of readers. In the 50 th issue of the 1901 newspaper Kvali we read:The Batumi Library is called a "library quot; completely in vain. quot; It looks like a simple reading room with its few magazines and newspapers and at least some books, not a library." This correspondence of the newspaper expressed the opinion of broad sections of the population. To this was added the fact that the manager Mariam Mkheidze, in whose name the library was opened, moved to live in Kutaisi. According to the law of that time, if the library did not have a responsible person approved by the governor, the existence of such a library was categorically unacceptable., That is why a management revision closed the library in 1902. One of the participants in the founding of the library, Grigori Volski, who then worked in the city government, in March 1902, he submitted the issue of opening a library to the city government for consideration. The City Council resolved the issue positively. This decision of the city council was presented at the general meeting of the library held on 28 April 1902 The Council approved the decision of the city Council by an overwhelming majority of those present and adopted the relevant resolution., on the basis of which the City Public Library, founded in Batumi in 1900, should be merged with the newly formed Public Library. The new council includes the following persons: Ivane Andronikashvili, the mayor of Batumi , The following persons joined this new council: Ivane Andronikashvili- (the mayor of Batumi) Head of Batumi City, Grigol Volski, V. Turkin and K. Chkheidze. Based on the decision of the city government, on October 13, 1902, the library was allocated two rooms in the city house (later the building of the City Council Executive Committee, currently the Batumi City Hall building) and it started working under the name of the Public Library. The library probably did not function there for long and the building of the earlier Public Library was assigned to it near the so-called  Noori Bazar “. During the lifetime of the head of City (mayor), Luka Asatiani, the construction of a one-story building began on the Kominterni Street (currently Memed Abashidze Street). where the Batumi Public Library is still located In 1902, the city government allocated money for the needs of the newly created library - 1,500 rubles, and then another 1,000 rubles. At that time, the book fund of the newly created library grew mainly mainly through charity, in the form of donated books. In the early days, books were donated to the library by well-known public figures of the time, such as: N. S. Derzhavin, E. K. Turkin, A. R. Ivanov, O. M. Kuziatina, E. Primo etc. The library received 223 titles of books from them. The fund was also replenished from the city administration and private individuals, which amounted to 6 068 printing units. In 1904, the library received about 100 titles of books as a donation. At that time, the library

had 20 magazines and newspapers under different names. The number of readers has also increased. In 1904, the first inventory check of the book fund was conducted, and the cataloging system was established. By 1905, The Book Fund of the Batumi public library already numbered two thousand units, but during the Revolutionary rise, the purchase of books and subscription of periodicals sharply decreased; The number of readers also decreased. By 1908, the library had subscribed to 41 periodicals, 6 of them were Georgian: 6 of them were Georgian: Ganatleba  Jejili Temi Imereti Batumi newspaper  and  people newspaper  In 1937, the library was transformed into a State Public Library" was named after the great Georgian poet, Akaki Tsereteli. Since 1959, the Batumi State Public Library has been functioning as the “Akaki Tsereteli Republican Library of Ajara “ and becomes the Center for methodical-practical assistance and coordination of library work of libraries in the region. In the period from 1959 to 1963, the library building was reconstructed and a new two-store building was added to it. Thus, the library building was located at the intersection of two streets (Vazha-Pshavela and Memed Abashidze), where it continues to function. As a result of ongoing processes in the library system of Georgia in 2005-2007 Akaki Tsereteli Republican library of Ajara   changed its status at the end of 2007 and it was

transformed into NNLE ;Akaki Tsereteli Batumi Public Library", which was located in two buildings: the main building (№21 Vazha-Pshavela Str. ) and Children and Youth Department (N 72 Ivane Javakhishvili Str. ). Since 2010, the library has implemented an Electronic database search system. In the Book Fund of NNLE  Akaki Tsereteli Batumi Public Library" incorporates numerous rare and modern book collections acquired over a period of 124 years. As of 31 December 2025, the library  book fund consists of 585,788 items.   The beauty of the library's main Book Depository fund are rare editions of rare books:  The original 1888 edition of Shota Rustaveli's  "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" with illustrations by the famous Hungarian painter and graphic artist, Mihály Zichy. "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" printed in the printing house of Guram Tavartkiladze in Batumi in 1899 with illustrations by Mihály Zichy. Memoirs of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, Chief Minister and Friend of the King of France Henry IV of Bourbon "the Great" published in French in 1747. (Maximilien de Bethune, the Duke of Sully, Memoires de Sully). The original historical work of the French poet and philosopher Voltaire, published in 1759.Histoire de l'Empire russe. The main work of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, published in Italian in 1817, and one of the greatest masterpieces of world literature-„The Divine Comedy“. (La divina commedia). One of the main written monuments of the French Revolution, published in 1790, titled  Histoire de la Révolution de France, par deux amis de la liberté,   authors of which were «Les deux amis de la liberté» François-Marie de Querveno and Jean Clavelin. The "Old Testament" in Russian-Hebrew, printed in Vienna in 1897. A monumental work in French, published in 1885 by the famous French scientist, archaeologist and anthropologist Ernest Chantre - Anthropological Research in the Caucasus “Batumi and its surroundings”, a monograph and historical-geographic essay published in 1906 in Batumi by the city administration. In addition, the fund preserves the original editions of works by Balzac, Goethe, Hugo, Derzhavin, Schiller, Niccolò Machiavelli, and the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Periodicals Fund holds collections of periodicals published in Georgia: Public-political newspaper "Ajara" (from 1934-till present). Public-political newspaper "Ajara" (from 1934-till present) Newspaper "Аджария" in Russian (from 1936- till present). Newspaper  "Sakartvelos Respublika" (from 1934- till present) and others. Published in giant book form1886 and 1887 1/I-31 / XII political-literary newspaper "Iveria"..Old editions of magazines : „Ganatleba“  (1912–1914) "Nakaduli"  (1907). „Moambe“  (1905 წ.) and etc. The library contains cartographic and graphic publications, CDs and many audiovisual materials.  Documents preserved in the fund are presented in Georgian, Russian, Abkhazian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Greek and other languages. Some publications of various formats stored in the library have been digitized and are available on the library's website (www.blp.ge ) At various times, the library was headed by people with experience in public and educational activities.: From 13 October 1902 to 13 February 1909-the famous public figure E. V. Turkin. 13 February 1909 - 13 April 1910 - P. I. Kazanovski, an educated public figure of the early 20th century. since 13 April 1910 - P.D. Gamkrelidze.Deputy Director of the Library , since its foundation, had been M. M. Kuziatina. 1923–1956  - Distinguished and honored Mariam Guseva 1957–1966  - Poet, public figure Nana Gvarishvili. 1966–1967 - Famous Georgian writer, poet, scientist Jemal Jakeli. 1968–1969  - Teacher and author/editor of various educational and sociological works Mamia Berdzenishvili. 1969–1992  - Public figure, honorary citizen of Batumi and Honored Worker of culture of Georgia Eter Tsivadze. 1992–1997 - Scientific Researcher Soso Jorbenadze.1997–2018 - candidate of historical Sciences and a professional book scholar Genadi Makharadze 2018–2020 - Georgian novelist and public figure Inga Gogiberidze. 2021 . - Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor Teona Beridze. 2022–2026  - Philologist, teacher and cultural manager Joni Sabashvili. From 2026 - Doctor of Economics, Member of the City Council of Batumi Municipality of the 2017–2021 Convocation. Natalia Dzidziguri,