The Zhumabayev Akmolinsk Regional Universal Scientific Library wanted to purchase a robotic book scanner, the ScanRobot, for 105 million tenge.
This was reported on social media by the head of the Kokshetau branch of "Ädildik joly", Yerlaz Zhayykbaev.
The activist noted that a far more modest sum of 89.5 million tenge had been allocated to complete the capital repair of the library building. He also pointed out that the cost of the simplest 'planetary scanner' is 6.9 million tenge, while the most 'high-end' one costs 14.5 million tenge.
According to informburo.kz, the Department of Culture in turn stated that the robot scanner is needed for digitising books up to 72 years old as part of the state programme 'Digital Kazakhstan'. At the same time, it is reported that based on a decision by the regional maslikhat, the funds have already been returned to the budget.
'The ScanRobot has unique technical characteristics: it can digitise up to 3,000 pages per hour, scanning each page with precise, consistent, and maximum resolution. The cost of the scanner was planned based on price proposals from potential suppliers', the statement says.
Meanwhile, the department stated that the library renovation began last year, and its cost is around 425 million tenge.