The old building of the National and University Library "St. Kliment Ohridski" will be reconstructed, including the roof, wiring and plumbing, said Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska on Monday.
The reconstruction works will cost MKD 41.2 million (EUR 670,000), followed by interior design of the facility.
Minister Kanceska-Milevska also visited the Digitization Center of Macedonia's rich literary heritage, including manuscripts, note inscriptions, archive materials, maps etc.
"The entire equipment has been procured, which will certainly result in a successful digitization process", stressed Kanceska-Milevska.
Regarding the digitization process, library director Ivan Zarov said it is most difficult, most complex and slowest among rare and sacral books, as well as oriental manuscripts, ancient musical manuscripts.
"The center has thus far digitized 195 rare books, i.e. over 900,000 pages. Along with the Istanbul-based 'Suleymaniye Institute' we are working on one of the richest collections of oriental manuscripts on the Balkans, including Persian, Old Turkish, Arab manuscripts, which have been fully digitized", added Zarov.