On October 20, 2005 Maurice Freedman, past president of American library Association visited the National Library of Belarus. Maurice Freedman came to Minsk to take part in the International scientific and practical conference "Role of libraries and information in sustainable development of the society", where he spoke on "The Role of the library in sustainable development of the society: ecology of information - initiatives of American Library Association".

    During his visit in Belarus Mr. Freedman learned about the work of Belarusian libraries. He visited Grodno district library, Gomel district library, Central city library of Polotsk and a number of libraries in Minsk. During his visit Mr. Freedman toured in the new building of the National Library. He was amazed by its architectural and technological peculiarities, and also he emphasized a high level of librarians' expertise.