On August 10, 2026, in the workers' settlement of Arya, Uren Municipal District, Nizhny Novgorod Region, a model library began operating, equipped as part of the national project "Family". It became the first of seven model libraries scheduled to open in the region in 2026, and the 62nd overall since the project began in Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1]
Location and floor area
The library is housed in the Arya Village House of Culture, built in 2024 under the national project "Culture". The building's total area is about 1,500 sq. m, of which the library occupies 90 sq. m. The number of registered users exceeds 2,200, drawn both from the settlement itself and from the neighboring village of Atazik.[2]
Equipment and holdings
The original design project envisioned the library as a legal information center. During the renovation a new layout was formed: the children's lending section was fitted out as a transformable hall with open shelving and interactive equipment; the adult lending area gained workstations with access to electronic library resources; and an exhibition rack for book exchange was installed in the entrance zone.[3]
The library acquired equipment for digitizing holdings, laminating, scanning and printing documents, virtual reality goggles, a children's globe with augmented reality, a set for an animation studio, a wireless microphone system, a mirrorless camera, an interactive floor, and a hardware-and-software complex with the educational program Globe of the Nizhny Novgorod Region". The library has been adapted for people with disabilities: workstations were equipped for the hard of hearing and visually impaired, and a tracked stairlift, a portable talking-book player, and a digital magnifier were purchased.[2]
The book collection grew by more than 1,800 new titles — classic Russian and foreign literature, encyclopedias, historical and nonfiction works, and books on crafts and folk traditions. More than 7.5 million rubles from the federal budget were allocated for the refit under the model-library standard.[2]
Project context
For Uren District this is the second model library: the first Uren (disambiguation) in 2023.[1] By the end of 2026, similar facilities were planned to open in six more localities in the region — Sergach (disambiguation), Varnavino, Kstovo, Balakhna, Nizhny Novgorod, and the village of Vad.[5] Since 2025, the refitting of municipal libraries has been funded under the federal project "Family Values and Cultural Infrastructure" of the national project "Family," carried out pursuant to an instruction from the President of Russia.[3]
Sources
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — A model library has opened in the village of Arya, Uren District (archive)
- Vremya N — A model library has opened in the village of Arya, Uren District (archive)
- progorodnn.ru — A model library has opened in the village of Arya, Uren District (archive)
- nationalprojects.rf — A model library has opened in the village of Arya, Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
- Otkrytyi Nizhny — Under the national project, the first model library of 2026 opened in the village of Arya (archive)
- GTRK "Nizhny Novgorod" (Vesti) — A model library has opened in the workers' settlement of Arya, Uren District (archive)