BOOK HOUSES OF AZERBAIJAN
Despite the fact that the history of the development of the book in our territory begins in the XI century, the history of its foundation dates back to the old ones — when the first state was created. It is known from historical sources that in the V century there was an alphabet of 52 letters in Caucasian Albania, so a number of books of that time were translated into Albanian, and the first libraries were created in churches and schools. In connection with the arrival and spread of Islam in the territory of Azerbaijan, libraries began to be created in madrasas and schools, which led to the wide spread of reading culture among the people. Thus, the peak of the development of library work dates back to the XI century. At this time, the faces of the most valuable works were copied and placed in various libraries for protection, which led to an increase in the number of book houses.
The literary connoisseurs, intellectuals, respected, well-known, and statesmen of his time often had their own libraries. In these libraries, there were books from different parts of the world. Among them, the most famous ones — the library of Bahmaniyar, the foundation of which was laid in the XI century, considered valuable in the world; Library of Khatib Tabrizi, the first Azerbaijani literature theorist founded at the junction of XI-XII centuries; “Seyyidina” library of Nasreddin Tusi with more than 400,000 copies of books created in the XIII century in interest; it is the “Rashidiyya” libraries of Rashidaddin consisting of two buildings and the library of the City University.
Books were brought here to the first University of Azerbaijan — “Rashidiyya”, the library of the City mosque, and the healing centers from Iran, Egypt, China, Greece, Byzantium, and other countries.
After the development of the bookwork in Azerbaijan in the Middle Ages, palaces, religious, scientific, and personal libraries began to form. The Shirvanshahs' Palace Library (XII century), Tabriz library (XIII century), Aggoyunlu and Garagoyunlu libraries (XIV-XV centuries) can be mentioned among the palace libraries. In the XVI century, prominent Azerbaijani statesman Shah Ismail Khatai laid the foundation of Tabriz Palace Library. In 1522, Shah Ismail signed the state decree on “library activity”. The main place in the world of religious literature was occupied by the Sheikh Safi Observatory in Ardabil. Already in the 40s of the XIX century, new national public libraries, private libraries of prominent figures of the world of science and art of that time began to emerge.
At the beginning of the last century, the intellectuals of Azerbaijan set up a bookstore and a charity Society for the creation of new libraries and reading rooms. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920) A.Sabir and Baku State universities ' libraries were established.
In 1920, there were 965 schools in Azerbaijan, 50 libraries in Baku and surrounding areas, and 100 libraries in the regions.
Currently, there are 12,000 libraries in Azerbaijan, the largest of which are: M.F.National Library named after Akhundov, Central Scientific Library, Library of scientific Medicine, Library of Baku State University, Presidential Library, Republican Youth Library named after Jafar Jabbarli.
There are also book houses junction in Azerbaijan — Baku Book Center, Libraff, Ali and Nino and a number of book houses, where examples of classical and contemporary world literature are presented.