The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library has opened the first virtual reading room in the United States. “The opening of the first remote electronic reading room of the Presidential Library in the United States took place at the Russian Cultural Center in Washington. The reading room provides access to unique documents, archive materials, and e-books from the Presidential Library’s fund, which currently consists of some 500,000 items,” the Presidential Library press service reported on November 15, 2015.

The reading room offers a special e-collection devoted to the history of U.S.-Russia relations. “It consists of digital copies of archive and scientific research documents as well as reference and visual materials on various aspects of Russian-American ties from the late 18th and mid-19th centuries,” the press service said. The e-collection contains a rare sequence from 1942, which shows U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt receiving Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov in the White House.

The Presidential Library center in Washington will serve as a venue for various cultural, educational, and research projects, which will offer objective insight into Russian history. Within the last few months, the Presidential Library set up 27 electronic reading rooms outside of Russia, including in cities like Prague, Berlin, London, and Budapest. “The library continues to develop rapidly. It plans to open remote electronic reading rooms worldwide,” the Library’s representatives said.