Once in Mongolia, the most popular slogan was "Everything for children."  The old socialist society despite of its imperfect features was somehow more children friendly. That should be rightful in the country where according to the official statistics, over 70 per cent of the population are children and young people below 35 years old. Nevertheless, the transition period from the communist society to the market oriented capitalism was really painful for children. So, the popular library for children became a branch of Commercial Bank, a building of main cinema for children were converted into the Stock Exchange and a centrally located cafe for children entitled a beer garden where the nouveaux riches and wealthy foreign tourists gather. It was true at least for last 10 years. But it seems the time is changing. The new Book Palace for Children is recently opened in Ulaanbaatar. Let's hope that this would herald a new children-oriented series. 

BOOK PALACE FOR CHILDREN

The Book Palace for Children had started its activity on May 9, 2003 in accordance with Policy Program of Mongolian Government for 2000-2004.

The Book Palace for Children has over 100,000 books on Mongolian, Russian, English and other languages that are suitable and tailored for the age and psychology of teenagers and youth.

READINGS AND SERVICES

The Book Palace for Children has the following reading rooms.

The reading room "Big Knowledge-man" had been organized for the first time in Mongolia by sponsorship of the Mongolian Foundation for Open Society (Soros Foundation) within the project "Book Palace" in accordance with experiences of developed countries.

The reading room "Dream" is tailored for children between 10-16 years old. The reading room  has 30 seats in total. The most of books, newspapers, journals and serials are available in the reading room for the selection. Children in the reading room are provided with the opportunities to select the books and other publication products as it is arranged in the free random selection rooms or in the individual and group choices. 

The reading room "Education and Development" had been established in assistance with the financial support of Education Development Program initiated by Asian Development Bank. The abovementioned program had also supplied the library with library automation intra net and fully equipped Internet reading room. Teenagers and youth over 16 years old are clients of this reading room. The reading room has 100 seats in total.

The Internet reading room has 5 computers connected to the network that would serve readers. There are also 5 another computers that are designed for works with non-print materials. The reading room has 16 seats.

The reading room for UNESCO and other UN organizations has over 30,000 printed and non-print materials. As the UN depository library, the reading room receives and serves readers in time with all kind of UN-related documents, publications and other materials. The reading room has 6 seats.

The German language reading room had been established by Henrich Belle Foundation and Goethe International Institute in accordance with Government Agreements between Germany and Mongolia. The reading is equipped with modern technique and equipment and available to provide readers with the latest information on the German language. The reading room has 20 seats.

The English language reading room has been working in cooperation with Soros Foundation's Center for Educational Advices and Information. It would be equipped with all possible modern equipments and facilities that would serve for English language proficiency of  our children and youth. The library belonging to this reading room has English language books, non-print materials, specially tailored for preparing foreign student enrollment examinations such as TOFEL, GRE, GMAT, SAT, LSAT, TOEIC. The reading room supports Mongolian youth and students for a successful study in foreign universities and colleges. The reading room has 40 seats in total.

The Japanese language reading room had been established in cooperation with Mongolian Cultural Foundation. So far it has over 30,000 books and publications and 20 seats.

The Korean language reading room will be organized in free selection arrangement in cooperation with Korean Center for Culture and Information. It has 10 seats.

The division for home-loan books has 2,349 books by now. The books have been arranged for free selection choices. The division serves children and youth with children's literature books and text-books, promotional literature, manuals available at the library in many circulations for home-loan. It has 4 seats. 

The Book Palace for Children works from 10.00 a.m. to 06.00 p.m.
Monday through Friday and closed on Week-ends.