J. P. Utkin Regional Youth Library, Irkutsk, was opened on 25 December 1965, as a municipal youth library, changed its status to that of the central regional library in 1975, and received its official name of J. P. Utkin Regional Youth Library in 1986, in honor of a local poet, Joseph Utkin. The library caters for teenagers and young adults, age 14-28, as well as local educators, school and kindergarten teachers, librarians, leaders of youth organizations, etc.

In October 2000 J. P. Utkin youth library launched its own Internet Center which immediately gained wide popularity among young users including high school and college students, businessmen, rural educators and librarians. While the library and its Internet Center were part of the IATP Program, they attracted many exchange programs alumni, many of whom became the library’s permanent partners in implementing socially oriented projects and programs. In April 2006, the Internet Center joined the network of IDEA Educational Centers and began offering free Microsoft computer training courses, actively attended by culture, education and healthcare workers, law enforcement officers, rural youth, college students, senior citizens and unemployed people.

The library also makes extra effort to provide assistance to a local children’s home, holding special socially oriented projects for its young residents and inviting them to participate in IDEA computer courses.