Samarkand regional library was opened in December in 1911.The founders and organizers of library were the famous archaeologist V. L. Vyatkin and colonel G. A. Brjeziskiy agronomist Yu. N. Grushanovskiy E. M. Volnev and others.
First the library was near the museum. Now it is a beautiful building like a small castle with towers, which decorates cross-roads of streets by A.Timur and M.Koshgary and there is a big inscription “Reading-room” on its facade. Original book fund composed only 2 thousand books of various Literature, which was formed to sacrifice. The first director of the library was the statesman V. A. Andreyev, he began the work over the composition of the library catalogue. One person by name Dickson told about urban public library and described some parts of life of Samarkand in his article ”In the capital of Tamerlane”, which was published in the newspaper “Messenger of Turkestan” from the May of 16 in 1916. He especially told that there were 50 thousand inhabitants in Samarkand. In 1915 the 373 persons were written down to the library during a year and 7216 persons visited the reading-room and the library was supported by sacrifice.
After the year of 1917 the Samarkand State public library was named the central library OkrONO, from 1920 it was named the fundamental library, in 1927 it passed to leading of Narkompross of the republic and was named the State library. In 1937 because of the centenary from the death of great Russian poet A. S. Pushkin by the resolution of the Uzbek Republic the library was named: the State library by name of A. S. Pushkin.
From year to year the book funds of the library are rising, the structure of departments are developing. In 1960 the fund of the library numbers over 150 thousand books in different branches of knowledge. These years are famous for Samarkand. By this time the research of the city Afrosiab was over. By the result of archaeological research the date of foundation of the city was known. All the world public in 1970 celebrated the 2500 anniversary of the city-monument. One of the jubilee objects is a new building of regional library, which is situated at the beautiful place of Samarkand - in the University boulevard. 70-80 years are the period of intensive growth of the fund of library and reading – room, the development of new structure of service, the usage of new progressive forms of the work with the readers.
The library owing to its scientific-methodical service is the methodical centre for 740 national mass libraries, which were united into 18 centralized library systems. Nowadays the Samarkand regional universal scientific library by the name of A. S. Pushkin is the centre of security of processes of democratization and reformation of informational library technology in the region. Nowadays the book fund of regional library by the name of A. S. Pushkin is numbered about 700 thousand units of keeping, including the books, periodicals for all the years of existence of library, gramophone records and note editions. Now annually about 33 thousand people become the readers of the library, the common delivery of books is composed about 700 thousand printed units, daily in average 700 people visit the rooms of specialized departments of service.
In 2006 this centre was named Informational library centre by name of A. S. Pushkin. It was after the Decree of the President I. Karimov, which is bound for improving the library system of Uzbekistan. In corresponding to this document the intensive process of importing the informational recourses of the main keeping of books of Samarkand region into world library net. The book funds are transferred to the electronic carriers, the readers got the possibility to use the computers and electronic catalogues. In perspective the funds of library will be accessible to the reader distantly.