PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN
THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN AZERBAIJAN, PAST AND PRESENT
The emergence of a publishing industry in Azerbaijan dates back to the first half of the 19th century. The first printing house in the country was built in Shusha in the 1830s. Where there were only 5 printing houses and 1 typolithography facility in Baku in 1889, there were already 16 printing houses here in 1900.
Large printing houses began to emerge in Azerbaijan in the early twentieth century. Among the major ones in those days were Geyret (owned by Jalil Mammadguluzadeh and Omar Faig Nemanzadeh), Kaspi (owned by Haji Zeynalabidin Taghiyev), Sada (owned by Najaf bey Vazirov) and Kaspi (owned by Isa bey Ashurbeyov).
The Orujov Brothers Publishing House operated from 1906 to 1919 and published 333 books and 18 periodicals in various fields of science. Prior to 1920, the aforesaid publishing and printing houses played an important role in the development of book publishing in Azerbaijan. After the establishment of the Soviet government in Azerbaijan in 1920, a new era in book publishing began. The Azerbaijan State Publishing House, Azerneshr, was established on the 9th of June 1929. Azerneshr was the first state publishing house not only in Azerbaijan, but in the whole East. Only 5 months after its establishment, the publishing house had produced 77,000 copies of 8 books. It mainly published textbooks, fiction and children’s literature, as well as scientific-technical, pedagogical and methodical books, among others. Azerneshr was also the first publishing house in Azerbaijan to promote the book trade; Azerkitab and Kendkitab Book Trade Departments were established within Azerneshr. These departments not only sold books, but also went out to talk to bibliophiles and find out which books were most in demand. Later they summarised this information and provided it to publishers.
In 1933, the Children’s Literature Department was established in Azerneshr, and as of 1938, this department continued to operate as an independent publishing house under the name Ushaqganjneshr. After ceasing its activities in 1963, the publishing house resumed its work in 1967 under the name Ganjlik.
Maarif Publishing House was established in 1960 in the Educational and Pedagogical Literature Editorial Office of Azerneshr, while Yazychy Publishing House was established in the Fiction Editorial Office. Thanks to the publishing houses Elm (Science), Ishyg (Light) and others, a number of books were printed and published. However, due to the political and socio-economic processes in the country in the 1990s, a period of stagnation began in the activities of these publishing houses, and as a result, some had to close down.
After Azerbaijan gained its independence in 1991, the reorganization of the publishing industry led to the establishment of private publishing houses. The adoption of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On publishing” on the 30th of May 2000 gave an impetus to the revival of the publishing industry. More than 10 million books have been published in the country since the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated the 12th of January 2004 “On the implementation of mass publications in the Latin alphabet of the Azerbaijani language”.
At present, there are about 50 publishing and printing companies in Azerbaijan, most of which are located in Baku. Among these publishing houses there are the Azerbaijan State Publishing House (Azerneshr), Sherg-Gerb, Ganun, TEAS Press, Tehsil, Hedef Neshrleri, Elm, Altun Kitab, Galam, Aspoligraf, Alatoran Yayinlary, Parlag imzalar, Khan, Renaissance, 3 Alma, Agylly bala, Gadim Gala, Chashyoghlu, Chinar chap, Mujru, Elm ve tehsil, Letterpress, Libra kitab, Shirvanneshr, Mutarcim, Uchbucag and others.
In 2019, 3 697 books in 3 435 800 copies were published across the country; this includes 1 355 scientific books, 833 educational books, 1 266 fiction, 243 children’s literature and other publications. Due to the worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there is now a partial decline in the field of publishing.
The role of the book trade in the development of the book industry in Azerbaijan is undeniable. At present, there are large bookstores in the country. Among them are: Ali & Nino, Libraff, Baku Book Centre, Azerkitab, Ovod Book House and others. The above-mentioned companies also organise the e-book trade.
There are 12,000 libraries in the country (3,000 libraries are located in cities and 9,000 in districts, settlements and villages). These libraries include the Mirza Fatali Akhundov National Library of Azerbaijan (NLA), the Library of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Central Scientific Library of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (CSL ANAS), the Jafar Jabbarly Republican Youth Library, the Republican Children’s Library named after Firudin bey Kocharli, the State Scientific Medical Library of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republican Scientific and Agricultural Library, the Republican Educational and Pedagogical Library, just to name a few.
In particular, the National Library of Azerbaijan (NLA) is the official and central repository of the country that implements the state policy in the field of library work in Azerbaijan; it collects and preserves national publications, printed materials about Azerbaijan from abroad and works of Azerbaijani authors, as well as world-famous publications and information media in foreign languages. The NLA’s book stock consists of 4,619,345 copies. According to the latest statistics, the number of regular readers of the library was 190,197, while the number of virtual readers totalled to 2,996,278.
The National Library of Azerbaijan named after Mirza Fatali Akhundov, which has a rich book stock, preserves the first examples of Azerbaijani book culture; here you can find the first lithographic (limestone printed) books, as well as periodicals of the 19th century. The Rare Books Fund and Museum of the library preserves the oldest books in about 20 languages of the world, including fundamental research works in various fields of science and valuable reference literature.