public libraries in the u.s.s.r.: soviet studies

Int. Libr. Rev. (1971) 3, 423-444

Public Libraries in the U.S.S.R.: Soviet S tudiest

Edited by GEORGE CHANDLER3

I. PUBLIC (MASS) LIBRARIES

A quotation from Lenin introduced the section on public libraries in the exhibition organized for the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow. “They regard as the pride and glory of a public library . . . the extent to which books are distributed among the people, the number of new readers involved, the speed with which the demand for any book is met, the number of books issued to be read at home, the number of children attracted to reading and to the use of the library.” There was no reference to the fact that “they” originally meant the staff of the New York Public Library whose annual report had been reviewed by Lenin in 1913.

The objectives of Soviet public libraries were, as stated in the exhibition, to assist in the education of an all round developed personality; to help in the formation of a scientific outlook; to further the raising of the cultural and technical level; to assist in strengthening communist mor- ality and labour education; to further the development of aesthetic tastes. Frequently it was stressed in the exhibition and in the papers by Soviet librarians that the primary objective of libraries was to serve the interests of communism and the Soviet system. Hence the exhibition and papers were avowedly propagandist.

The methods to be used to attain these objectives were listed in the following order : readers’ conferences, literary evenings, oral magazines, debates; book displays and library posters; recommendatory bibliography (indexes and reviews) and, last of all, open access to book shelves. Most Anglo-Saxon librarians would put the various methods in reverse order of importance. Open access to book shelves with all the

t A shortened version of three of the 17 chapters based on the papers presented to the 1970 IFLA Council, which are to appear in Libraries, Documentation and Bibliography in the U.S.S.R. to be published by Seminar Press in 1972 as volume 4 of the International Bibliographical and Library Surveys (INTERBIBLIS) for which volumes on the East, Australia, Iran, Thailand, cartobibliography and bibliography of planning have been commissioned.

$23 Dowsefield Lane, Liverpool, L18 3JE, England.

424 PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE U.S.S.R.

readers free to make their own choice is much more effective than the reading lists and extension activities which can only reach minorities. But freedom of choice is not permitted in Soviet libraries. Books were withdrawn from libraries in accordance with the instructions of the All Union Ministry of Culture.

In accordance with Soviet precepts, the exhibition described the achievements of Soviet public libraries. There were in 1970 130 million readers in the libraries of the U.S.S.R. Books became, it was stressed, a vital requirement for the people, their unfailing companions in creative work, studies and recreation. In 1970 there were in all 1198 million volumes in 124,800 public libraries. In these libraries 94,400,OOO people were issued some 1800 million volumes annually.

Some statistics were given of advances during the previous decade in the public libraries of the Ministry of Culture. The number of libraries rose from 68,700 in 1960 to 85,600 in 1969. Book stock increased from 625 million volumes to 944 million volumes. The average number bf books, magazines and journals in each library rose from 8500 in 1960 to 10,300 in 1969. The total readers rose from 53 million in 1960 to 75 million in 1969. Annual book issues increased from 1027 million in 1960 to 1468 million in 1969.

Library Progress 1913-1969 The progress of Russian libraries under the Soviet system was illus-

trated by a table in the study submitted to the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow by I. K. Nazmutdinov under the title Libraries of One Hundred flationalities of the U.S.S.R.

Union Republic Public Libraries 1913 1969

Book Collections 1913 1969

In 1000’s

RSFSR UKSSR BSSR Uzbek Kazakh Georgian Azerbaijan Lithuanian Moldavian Latvian Kirghiz Tajik Armenian Turkmenian Estonian

9,342 3,153

851 -

139 25 25

271 72

112 - - 13 - 47

58,057 26,330

7,199 4,933 6,695 3,154 2,583 2,193 1,686 1,520 1,210 1,004 1,181 1,110

937

6,698 295 423

- 98 18 18 31 54

126 -

- - 50

655,25 1 248,417

46,759 24,156 47,300 19,367 20,154 17,158 14,887 14,301 9,363 6,428 9,383 5,895

10,197

PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE U.S.S.R. 425

In the paper I. K. Nazmutdinov referred to the Tsarist oppression of non-Russian national cultures which had caused Lenin to refer to pre- Revolutionary Russia as the “prison of the peoples”. In his Letter to t!ze People’s Commissariat for Education (19 19) Lenin stressed the importance of drawing non-Russian peoples into libraries. Before the Revolution there was only one book per 100 people in the public libraries of Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Armenia, two per 100 population in Georgia and Kazakhistan, three per 100 population in Moldavia, five per 100 in the Ukraine and Estonia. There were, it was claimed, now 450 books per 100 population in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and Moldavia. 400 in Kazakhstan and 540 per 100 in the Ukraine, and 800 per 100 in Estonia. There was in 1970 no settlement, town or village without books.

Readership of public libraries had grown enormously, comprising 39% of the population in the Ukraine, 29% in the Russian Federation, 26% in Byelorussia, 33 o/o in Moldavia, 24% in Armenia and Kazakhstan.

State libraries Large national libraries had been built up in the capitals of all the

union and autonomous republics. Their book stocks, excluding the national libraries in the Russian Federation, possessed over 50 million publications and served nearly 400,000 readers.

The State Lenin Public Library in Byelorussia had a stock of 4,700,OOO items. 23,000 readers use its 12 reading halls daily.

The State Library of Estonia had 3,500,OOO publications and 26,000 readers.

The State Public Library of the Korelian Autonomous Republic had 1,600,OOO publications and over 20,000 readers including some who lived beyond the Polar circle.

The republican state libraries had the most comprehensive collections of literature in the local languages: 1,700,OOO in Armenia; 625,000 in Latvia, 350,000 in Uzbekistan; 330,000 in Georgia; 60,000 in Tartaria, etc. The republican state libraries collected all material on their countries published in the Soviet Union or abroad. They were also active in the fields of recommendatory bibliography. For example, the State Cherny- shevsky Kirghiz Library had prepared over 50 recommendatory bibliographies during the three previous years. They were also centres of methodological guidance to ensure uniformity and the avoidance of overlap in the various networks of libraries within the republics.

Public library networks Overall national planning and methodoIogica1 guidance was of course

the responsibility of the All Union Ministry of Culture. Some account of


how this was achieved was revealed in the study submitted to the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow by Y. V. Isayev and E. I. Sirotkina under the title Certain Problems of the Organization of the Public Library Network in the Soviet Union. This study commenced with a reference to Lenin’s precept that it was necessary to create a planned ramified network of libraries in the Soviet Union. The principle was adopted that all citizens throughout the country should have an equal opportunity of using libraries in spite of the huge size of the Soviet Union and the wide variations in climate, landscape and geographical and national characteristics. The size of the Soviet Union was 22 million square km. Of its total population of 241 million, 105 million lived in the country. Of the 120,000 public libraries, 35,000 served urban communities and 87,000 rural areas. The average number of readers per library was 1900. Total stocks of books, magazines and brochures was 1200 million or five items per head of population. Each library maintained service points in areas and buildings where it was not possible or economic to provide a permanent library. In all there were in 1970 230,000 service points.

The public library networks were based on the administrative areas- union republics, autonomous republics, regions or territories, districts and village soviets. National, republic or regional libraries served the whole population of the republic, territory or region and gave methodological and bibliographical assistance to the other libraries in the area. Central town or district libraries served as a link between the main regional library and the smaller town and rural libraries, to which they gave methodological assistance. Urban and rural libraries served only the populations of their towns and village soviets. Urban and rural areas were divided into districts which were the areas covered by one library and might include one or several localities or parts of localities. The size of the district served by a library was determined by the walking distance from the places of residence of its users, lo-15 minutes in a town and not more than 30 minutes in the country-and also by the total population served. In addition, there was a network of trade union libraries totalling 26,000 which offered very similar services to public libraries. They were situated in the main in factories, workers’ clubs and Houses of Culture. Independent trade union libraries were also organized in collectives with a minimum staff of 500. These served primarily the workers in the collective but they also issued books to the public.

Standardfforpublic libraries Standards were in force for the provision of branch libraries. In some

areas the provision of libraries had been in excess of the standards.


Some libraries had been closed and their resources used to bring other libraries up to standard. In the Russian Federation alone 300 town and 600 village libraries had been transferred. Each village soviet with a population of 500 or more was to have at least one library. Additional libraries were provided not less than 2 km apart provided that there was a minimum of 1000 readers, except in mountainous and similar excep- tional areas. When a village soviet had several libraries, a central village library was nominated which co-ordinated the workofthe other libraries. When there were more than 500 children aged 7-14 in the village soviet, a children’s section was established in the library.

The initial stock of a village library was a minimum of 2000 books. This was built up to five books per resident of the district served. In addition the central village library received half a book per head of the total population served in all the districts of the village.

Each village library had a minimum of one paid staff who was expected to deal with up to 600 readers and 10,000 issues annually. Each additional 300 readers and 5000 issues annually entitled the library to half a member of staff.

District libraries gave organizational and methodological assistance to rural libraries and acted as centres for inter-library exchanges.

In urban areas public libraries were expected to be at least l-5 km apart and to serve at least 10,000 population. One of the public libraries in the town was, as a rule, chosen to serve as organizational and methodological centre and to undertake inter-library exchanges for the remaining libraries in the town.

The book stock of a town library was to contain a minimum of 5000 books, and was to be developed to provide four books for each resident of the district served. The central town library should, in addition, have half a book for each resident in all the districts of the town.

Each town library was to have a minimum of two staff. The total number of staff was determined in accordance with the state approved standards for the staff of the town, district and children’s libraries which had been based on the size of the book collection. It was considered desirable to draw up new standards based not on the size of the book stock but on the volume of work. This was already being studied in some of the republics.

Independent children’s libraries were provided in towns-at least one per district. A children’s section was organized in public libraries in towns when there were 1500 children.

Representative libraries Some idea of what the statistics and standards meant in real terms


could be tested by visits to actual libraries during the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow. These revealed that, impressive as the achievements had been, libraries in the U.S.S.R. were still much behind those in the West from the point of view of buildings.

The Gorki Library in the Dzerginski District of Moscow which had a population of 210,000 was one of ten libraries (seven adult and three children’s). It was stated to be representative of the better public libraries. As is usual with Russian public libraries, the Go&i public library did not occupy purpose-built premises, as is the case with most comparable public libraries in, say, the United Kingdom or the U.S.A. It was situated on the ground floor of a housing development. Its lay-out was, therefore, determined by the necessity to fit in with accommodation designed for housing purposes. No amount of structural alteration in- ternally could conceal this. Its total book stock was stated to be 180,000 but total annual issues were only 450,000. Approximately 12,000 new books and 20,000 items were acquired annually. The library was a district library and was one of the responsibilities of the district cultural committee. Total readers was 8000 of whom 1500 were children- approximately 20 %.

The departments were laid out in one long line, with the entrance hall in the middle. The entrance hall opened into an exhibition area, behind which were situated a room for cloaks and an office. To the right were the children’s room, the adult library (to the rear of this was the entrance from the outside to the apartments on higher floors), the room for foreign literature, behind which an office was situated. To the left of the entrance and exhibition room were the music and art room, a reading room seat- ing 70 (behind this was a room for concerts, lectures and meetings with a piano and eighty seats), and a reading room with a stack. Hours of opening were 12.00-19.00 hrs in summer and 10.00-22.00 hrs in winter. The salary of the director of the library was 25% higher than that of a teacher and more than twice that of an attendant.

In Leningrad a branch library visited had a book stock of 100,000 volumes, a staff of ten and 12,000 readers. It acquired 8000 new books annually and had a reading room with 22 seats. It was one of ten libraries in the district, of which six were for adults and four were for children. It was not purpose-built.

Future developments Changes in the organization of the public library network were being

considered to meet new needs arising from increased urbanization, the development of education, and industry and increased leisure. From 1959 to 1969,885 new towns had been constructed in the Soviet Union


with a total population of 36 million. Scientific and technical progress had created new links between agriculture and industry and had resulted in over 100 new agro-industrial towns.

The papers submitted to the 1970 IFLA Council indicated the type of impact which these developments were making on public libraries.

There was a growing demand for information, primarily for information of a practical nature. This had resulted in an increased demand for specialized books. Nearly 87% of books published in the Soviet Union were of a specialized character. Not surprisingly these were being in- creasingly needed by users of public libraries. Hence the public library was no longer to restrict itself to the function of raising the general educational and cultural level of the population. It was no longer sufficient to have a good general collection of books. The public library was to meet wider professional and specialized demands which required more comprehensive stocks : “we are not in a position to satisfy to the full the present-day requirements of the ‘mass reader’ with the present organizational forms of the public library network.” Improvements in public libraries during the last decade had not adequately met the newer needs.

The library network based on “external indications”-population, territory and distance- assumed that the activity of a public library could be restricted by the area served. Homogeneous book collections had been provided in each library but these reduced the “opportunities for co-operation and co-ordination” which specialization made possible. Hence investigations were to take place as to whether the public library network should be based not on districts but on the total population of the area which would make it easier to meet special needs. This would result in a main library with an all purpose book stock capable of meeting broader and more specialized needs. In connection with this, new standards needed to be determined for the volume and composition of public library book stocks. The larger the library the greater was the non- fiction book stock. The smaller the library, the greater was the fiction stock. The provision of larger and more specialized libraries would make cooperation necessary with special libraries.

Reader guidance Some idea of the methods used by Soviet librarians in their work

with readers was conveyed by the study submitted to the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow by L. V. Belyakov-Principles and Mei%odological Fundamentals of Librarians Work with Readers. The study cited Lenin’s wife N. Krupskaya as the authority on work with readers: “A librarian in our Soviet conditions can no longer be simply a book issuer. . . . Our


Soviet library cannot and should not turn into a bureaucratic institu- tion. It should be the vital cultural centre, and this demands that a librarian should know how to approach the people, work with them, be aware of their requirements and know how to direct their interests into a definite channel, to awaken in the readers the urge for self expression and to conduct extensive instructive work among the people.” Reading guidance was “the process of the active purposeful and systematic influence of a librarian on the content and character of readers”. The librarian determined “the aim, content and character of reading” and tried to influence “its scope, sequence and depth” either by recommending what to read in talks with readers or through book propaganda. The librarian developed in readers the ability to select, analyse and evaluate books. The function of libraries was, according to the paper, “to render active help to the Party and the Government in education and in raising the consciousness and the cultural and technical level of the Soviet people”.

The “correctness” of the Soviet principles of reader guidance had been demonstrated, it was claimed, by more than 50 years’ experience. The basic principles of reader service were partisanship, to assist the cause of communist education, to he& in theformation of the ideological conviction of readers.

Another principle of Soviet librarianship was claimed to be contacts with I$. N. Krupskaya had said that “everything that is done in the country should be the prime concern of librarians”. Newspapers were not alone adequate to convey information. Librarians should draw attention to the books which would help readers to evaluate “correctly” the events and problems of the day.

Librarians were not only to draw readers’ attentions to political questions but also to economic questions. In the five years 1964-8 the issue of technical books from public libraries had increased from 44 million to 88 million annually. In 1968 out of over four million extension activities conducted by state public libraries, nearly one million related to farm production and over one million to industrial production. In 1964 119 million books on the social sciences were issued from public libraries ; in 1968 139 million were issued.

Another principle of work with readers was the principle of the mass character and accessibility of all libraries. This had led to a steady increase in the use of libraries. This was illustrated by the following statistics relating to the public libraries of the Russian Federation, The number of readers rose from 4,200,OOO in 1927 (5.2% of the population) to 26 million j(;z)9in 1947; to 36 million (31%) in 1967; and to 46 million (38%)

Throughout the Soviet Union there were nearly 63 million (26.2%)


readers in 1964. In 1968 there were over 7 1 million (34%). The number of books issued annually per reader rose from 4.1 books in 1964 to 6 in 1968. In 1968, 81,000 state public libraries organized over 44 million extension activities, including two million book displays.

The principle of in.st%ng activity and con~iousne.ss in the reader was illustrated by the reader’s ability to orientate himself freely in a library, to use the catalogues and card indexes, and to know how to choose the required book; by his participation in book propaganda undertakings; and finally by his ability to grasp the knowledge contained in the book.

The principle of the di$erentiated appromh was considered by Soviet librarians to be “most essential”. This was illustrated by Lenin’s state- ment : “The art of every propagandist and every agitator is to influence in the best way the given auditorium, making the truth already known to it still more convincing, possibly better digestible, more illustrative and more vividly impressed.” The paper claimed that the librarian was also a propagandist.

The difference in the character and quantity of literature being recommended and in the ways of recommending it depended, it was claimed, in the final analysis on the difference in social position and professional activity. Other bases for the differentiated approach were profession, age, nationality and the working conditions of readers. Librarians were to use different approaches in recommending books in these different conditions. Very often different groups were served in the same library by different sections or different desks. Sometimes readers’ record cards carried signs indicating the particular group. In rural libraries, machine operators, livestock workers and farm specialists formed special groups. In factories workers who were studying formed a group.

The differentiated approach presupposes individual work with every reader. The systematic principle of work with readers was important. The Princ$le of interest was important. The librarian must know the readers’ interests in order to awaken new interests. The principle of visibility was important and was expressed in attractive book displays. “The principle ofvisibility is grounded on free book access.” Other important principles were considered to be individual appromh, active and individual abilit_y, to work with books-discussions, wall newspapers etc. “Formalism” in reader guidance was to be avoided. Innovation was as necessary in the future as it had been in the past. In the early years of Soviet power reader guidance was elementary; reading aloud, book days, plays, etc. Today the forms and methods are based “on individual orientation and book selection combined with readers’ conferences, disputes, meetings with writers% wall newspapers, press and radio”. These principles of reader guidance were also important in work with youth,


II. YOUTH LIBRARIES The Soviet system of youth libraries was described in the paper lh Library and young People submitted by I. V. Bakhmutskaya, director of the State Republican Library for Youth of the Russian Federation, which was named after the fiftieth anniversary of the Young Com- munist League.

The following provision was being made for youth in Soviet libraries, bearing in mind the special conditions relevant to the type of library, the number of readers and local conditions.

State Rejmblican Youth Library At the top of the youth library network was the State Republican

Youth Library. This contained reading rooms, a lending department, and a reference, bibliographical and information centre. The music department had a small concert hall and a music club. There was a language laboratory. In addition there were facilities for the study of the history of the Young Communist League and professional and techno- logical matters. The “mass” department was equipped with a theatre for poetry. The literary club for young poets was named Scarlet Sails,

In spite of its association with the Young Communist League, it was stressed that there was no “need of turning the library into a club”. Nevertheless, although still basically a traditional library, the Youth Library should, it was claimed, keep in touch with the increasing needs of youth, and should promote intellectual growth, scientific, technical and artistic achievements, co-operation, the “spirit of collectivism” and friendship through the contents of books and the methods of using them.

Social events with people from abroad were much appreciated. Many topics had been discussed with the contingents of youth from such countries as Bulgaria, German Federal Republic, Poland and the U.S.A.

The library had 30,000 readers aged between 14 and 20. Total book stock was 500,000 volumes in Russian and foreign languages. The disc and tape recordings, films and slides totalled 60,000. Since 1968 the library had loaned tape recordings and slides for home use. A repro- graphic service was available free of charge.

The State Republican Youth Library of the Russian Federation acted also as a research centre for the study of the reading of youth and youth libraries. It offered guidance and assistance to all libraries for youth. It issued bibliographies and reading lists.

In association with the Likhachov Automobile Works in Moscow the State Republican Youth Library surveyed the attitude towards books and reading of various groups of young workers : engineers, technicians, office workers and manual workers


With the assistance of the All Union Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and the Institute of Psychology of the All Union Academy of Sciences, the State Republican Youth Library had studied the principles for “differentiated services” for young people. The result of this research was a publication on the organization of library and bibliographical services for young people in the Russian Federation.

The State Republican Youth Library organized refresher courses for youth librarians. It was the initiator of the All Union Conference on the Communist Upbringing of Youth which was held in Volgorad in 1968 and attracted 500 participants from libraries, Komsomol and trade unions. It also sponsored the Lenin-Book-Youth Conference in Ulya- novsk in I969 which was attended by 700 people.

Central Youth Libraries The State Republican Youth Library was an advisory and methodo-

logical centre for all youth libraries and for the All Union Central Council of Trade Unions and the Central Committee of the Young Communist League. It was found, however, that this was too much for a single library to do. Hence Central Youth Libraries were being organized since 1968 in regions, territories and autonomous republics. By 1970 examples were already operating in Voronezh, Kursk, Nalchik, and Petrozavodsk. This was the beginning of a co-ordinated network of guidance of youth libraries, similar to that already established for children.

The Central Youth Libraries had as objectives the study of the psychology, natures and characteristics of young people, their reading habits, the most effective ways of encouraging the reading of youth, and the compilation of recommendatory bibliographies.

Youth Branch Libraries Next in size to the Central Youth Libraries were the Youth Branches

of city libraries which were established for readers in excess of 3000. Each Youth Branch had its own book stock and reading room, and acted as a methodological centre for library work with young people in the area. The stock included books, music and tape recordings, slides, and other materials specially chosen to meet the needs of youth.

One example of a Youth Branch was that of the Cherepovets city library: 3700 young people used the lending section-1678 8 form students, 1160 9 and 10 form students, 340 young workers, 41 students at trade schools. 4030 young people used the reading room. Most were senior grade school students, 770 were young workers and 2 16 were first and second year students at institutes.


There was a total staff of six. There were 2500 books in the “auxiliary” collections. A library council of some 25 members gave assistance.

Displays organized by the Youth Branch related to the following themes : Love, Aesthetics of your behaviour, Young researchers, What we need to be happy, News in science and technology.

Youth sections in public libraries Next to the youth branches in cities were the sections for young

people in public libraries with more than 2000 young readers. Two youth librarians worked in these sections. The book stock was selected from the branch stock to help further “the communist principles of education of the younger generations”. Young readers could of course also use the branch stocks and could request books from other libraries.

Libraries serving more than 1000 young readers had Desks for Young People which were staffed by one librarian who was responsible for giving a special service to youth. Special displays were organized and special catalogues of books on suitable themes. Bibliographies of books recommended for youth were also published.

A book collection for young people was provided in the lending library in all libraries serving 1000 readers between the ages of 15 and 20 years, whether these were rural, district, factory or trade union libraries.

Research in reading Research on the reading habits of youth in the Soviet Union had

revealed that reading occupied the first place in the leisure time of most young people. Sixty per cent of young people stated that reading was their favourite leisure activity. Despite the advent of radio, television and other mass media the proportion of time devoted by young people to reading remained fairly constant.

Since the introduction of the five day week in 1966 use of libraries on Saturdays and Sundays had increased. Attendance on those days in 1970 showed an increase of 150 o/o over the number in 1966.

Investigations of the users of public libraries revealed that young people comprised 55-65 y. of the readers. This justified the development of a differentiated approach based on the needs of youth.

With the assistance of the Institute of Psychology of the All Union Academy of Pedagogical Sciences age categories were determined for young people between the ages of 14 and 20 years. Four categories were distinguished; young workers in industrial and farm production; 9 and 10 grade school students; students of trade, vocational and technical schools; first and second year students of institutions of higher learning. However, it was admitted that much research was required to justify


this differentiation scientifically. It was pointed out that there was a difference of apprehension of life by the age group 14- 15 years and 16-20 years.

During the period of youth-78 years-young readers read on the average 250 to 350 library books. Soviet librarians considered it to be of great importance to provide books to meet the needs of youth and to guide young readers in their reading. Young people preferred not to remain passive as listeners and readers but to take part in book discussions and to meet authors. Soviet librarians were searching for new methods of reader guidance.

All Union Conferences of Youth Readers had been organized to con- sider themes like “The Young Hero in Soviet Literature”, “True to Lenin’s Behests”. These were organized by the Central Committee of the Young Communist League, the Ministry of Culture and the Writers’ Union.

“True to Lenin’s Behests” was the theme for 1969-70. Nearly eleven million boys and girls had taken part in discussions of this theme in 300,000 libraries. More than 200,000 writers, critics and similar speakers gave talks. Young readers borrowed 122 million books by Lenin or about Lenin.

By the time Lenin was 18 years old he had read W/zat is to be done? by N. Chernyshevsky several times. He recorded in later years that it changed him. His teachings on the influence of books had led to the development of Soviet youth libraries. The first cosmonaut of the U.S.S.R. Yuri Gagarin agreed that books he had read in his youth inspired his interest in space. Whilst studying in a physics school he gave a talk in one of the book discussions on K. Tsiolkovsky and his teaching on rocket engines. He recalled: “I had to read a collection of science fiction works by Tsiolkovsky and all the books in the library on the subject. Afterwards I contracted a new ‘disease’ for which there was no name in medicine-an irrepressible urge to fly into space.”

The effect of books on youth is natural, for this was a period of change, In the U.S.S.R. boys and girls received their passports at the age of sixteen, were drafted into the Armed Forces at the age of eighteen when they were also granted the right to vote. During this period, youth have to decide their profession. Hence Soviet Librarians were giving higher priority to special services to youth in order to help mould them as supporters of the Soviet State. Great priority had for a long time also been given to library work with children.

III. CHILDREN’S LIBRARIES

In the stand devoted to children’s libraries in the exhibition organized for the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow, a prominent feature was the


quotation from Lenin to the effect that “even children could use rich collections of books”. These had been provided, the exhibition suggested, during the period of Soviet power by the publishing of some 80,000 titles in four milliard copies in approximately fifty years.

The object of Soviet children’s libraries was, as stated, to take an active part in the “communist education of the rising generation” through close co-operation with school, family, pioneer and Komsomol organizations. Some statistics were quoted to illustrate the volume of work of children’s libraries of various kinds. There were some 6000 independent children’s libraries in the Soviet Union. Their stock of books, journals and magazines had increased from 92.4 million in 1960 to 145.1 million in 1969. The number of readers in lst-8th school forms had increased from 9.5 million in 1960 to 12 million in 1969. Total books issued to children had increased from 227.5 million in 1960 to 2918 million in 1969.

A further exhibition was prepared for the IFLA sub-section on children’s libraries in connection with its 1970 meeting in Moscow. It was introduced by a quotation from Lenin’s wife-N. K. Krupskaya: “Reading plays a much more important role in the life of children than of adults.”

Special publishers of children’s literature had been established in the Russian Federation (Children’s Literature) in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic (Malush, Veselka) and in the Georgian Soviet Republic (Nakaduli) .

Examples of Russian children’s books were illustrated in the exhibition, starting with the authors who had written books about Lenin for children.

Another section of the exhibition described the institutions concerned with research in children’s literature, children’s reading and children’s library services. These included the House of Children’s Books in Moscow, Leningrad, and Tbilisi; the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences; the children’s literature departments and departments of library service for children in Institutes of Culture. More than 200 theses had been written on the problems of children’s literature and children’s reading.

The extensive networks of children’s libraries created by the Soviet Union were analysed in another section. Of the approximately 6000 independent children’s libraries, 16 were republican libraries, 140 were regional children’s libraries and 50 were city central libraries.

Work in children’s libraries was based on the principles of differentiated library services for various age groups-pre-school; l-4 school grades for children up to 10 years old ; 5-8 grades for children 11-14 years old.


Children’s libraries in Moscow Some idea of the range of libraries provided in Russian cities was

revealed by the list of children’s libraries in Moscow in 1957. The Cul- tural Administration of the Executive Committee of the Moscow Soviet maintained a central municipal children’s library (stock 122,000, readers 10,000, book circulation 200,000) ; a municipal centre for children’s mobile libraries with 98 mobile libraries and 122,000 stock, serving schools, children’s homes, etc; 86 district libraries in 20 districts of which 73 had a stock of over 25,000 items and 15 had less. The trade unions maintained six children’s libraries with stocks between 8000 and 36,000. The Moscow Municipal Centre of the Pioneer Organization maintained a library with a stock of 30,000 items. In addition, there was a library and reading room for young naturalists (12,000 items), the library of the Centre for Children’s Literature (121,000 items) which was used by writers, editors, librarians, educationists, etc. The Moscow Municipal Library for Young People (89,000 items) served secondary schools.

Up-to-date details of the Moscow Central Library and a district library were prepared in connection with the 1970 IFLA Council.

The largest children’s library in Moscow was the A. P. Gaydar Central Children’s Library, which had in 1970 a stock of 174,895 books and magazines. It had a staff of twenty, of whom the majority had completed higher education. In 1969 it had, with its branches, 36,023 readers, mostly schoolchildren from 6 to 14 years of age. On average each child came to the library seven times a year and read an average of ten books. Most of the children were also members of school libraries. The object of the library was to give individual service to children to meet their interests, to guide their reading, to evaluate it, and to teach them the elements of bibliography. Lists of recommended books were issued on such topics as the classics and scientific fiction.

There were two sections of the library: (1) for children up to school age and in grades l-4 (ages 6-10); (2) for children in 5-8 grades (ages 11-14).

During 1969 the library held 16 lectures and evening meetings, 30 morning meetings, 3 book discussions, 296 book reviews, 40 group reading sessions, 23 meetings with authors, 8 literary games, 22 tours of the library, 15 meetings of circles. These were attended by 16,729 children. In addition 110 book exhibitions were organized and 360 reading lists were compiled.

Methodological assistance was given to 125 other children’s libraries and to 16 children’s sections of public libraries. Nineteen seminars were organized for librarians and 116 consultations were held.


The library assists children’s publishers, the Interdepartmental Library Council, and the association of art and literary workers for children.

A district children’s library in Moscow was described in the paper submitted in French to the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow by Sourikov -La bibliothtque pour enfants quartier Timiriazev, Moscow. This library was opened in the early 1930s and had a stock of 55,000 volumes; 3000 new books were purchased annually. The staff consisted of eight persons of whom two had completed higher education, while the remainder had received secondary education.

Eight thousand readers aged from 6 to 14 used the library, which had a section for children up to 10 years and one for those 1 l-14 years oId. 160,000 books were issued annually. There was open access, a catalogue arranged alphabetically by author, a systematic catalogue, a titIe cata- Iogue.

In 1970 the library was conducting a survey of children’s reading. In 1969 a survey was taken of children’s attitudes towards adventure stories, and in that year the staff also organized four meetings with writers, six book discussion sessions, 32 lectures and film shows, 37 group discussions, 15 introductory talks on books and 13 visits to the library; 6213 children took part in these activities. During 1969, 101 book exhibitions were organized for children. There were also several children’s societies operating in the library- one for dolls-and others organized assistance in the library or literary events.

There were seven schools in the area served by the library, each with a permanent librarian. The staff of the children’s library helped the school librarians, and advised them. Visits of school children to the library were organized. The public library staff also advised teachers and parents.

Some supplementary statistics were contained in the study by T. Kukitschewa which was submitted in German to the IFLA Council- Einige Fragen der Arbeit mit den Kindern in den Bibliotheken. In the city of Moscow on 1 January 1970 there were 126 state children’s libraries and 17 children’s sections in adult public libraries. In 1969 these served 657,600 readers and issued over 12.8 million books. 653 librarians were working in these children’s libraries.

Some idea of the services provided by other Russian children’s libraries was conveyed by the paper prepared for the IFLA Council by N. B. Medvedeva--Books for Children. The paper commenced with the usual reference to Lenin, who had stressed the importance of publishing books for children, of granting to them free use of libraries, and of establishing children’s sections at public libraries. Following this, the


various types of children’s libraries were described in some detail-state, regional, district, village, school, recreational centre and trade union.

State children’s libraries All the States of the Union and the autonomous states had either

established state children’s libraries or children’s sections of state libraries. For example, the Lenin State Library had a special children’s library and a bibliographical section for children’s literature. It was also a national scientific and methodological centre for the work of children’s libraries, in which the author of the paper-N. B. Medvedeva-worked. It published practical manuals such as The Children’s Library and Work with Children in a Rural Library, catalogues of standard recommended books for children’s libraries and bibliographical indexes. The Lenin State Library took an active part in trying to raise the qualifications level in children’s libraries, It also worked in close association with the Institute of Art Education and the All Union Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. Its main concern was children’s reading outside school.

The decision to provide children’s libraries even in state research libraries has not been imitated on the same scale by Western national libraries. To some extent Soviet national libraries were induced to give bibliographical services to children because there were no library associations or similar bodies to undertake this work. Library associations and commercial publishers issued standard catalogues of literature for young people in the West.

In addition to the state children’s libraries there were in 1970 approximately 6,000 independent children’s libraries which were used by over 24 million children in January 1969.

Regional children’s libraries In addition to the state children’s libraries or children’s sections of

state libraries, all the regions had regional children’s libraries with stocks normally not less than 100,000 volumes. Often these were in their own buildings as, for example, the regional children’s library in Kras- nodar. This had a collection of 150,000 books and a staff of 40 who provided books for nearly 15,000 children in the city. It had sections for children and for methodological, bibliographical and acquisitions services, and for book storage. It issued instructions to other libraries in the region on the organization of services for children and supplied materials for new methods of work and bibliographical guides. It also undertook research. It had for example studied the effect of poetry on children of various ages and had issued selections of the best poetry for children.


District children’s libraries Smaller in size than state and regional children’s libraries in towns and

rural areas, which stocked normally between 5000 and 15,000 volumes. An example of a district children’s library was that of the Volo-

chinsk district in the Ukraine which maintained a card index of all children between 6 and 14 years of age who lived in the district. Each card carried a note as to whether the child was a regular reader of the library. If not, the library tried to encourage membership by approach- ing the parents, school teachers or friends. Invitations were sent to non- members as well as to members for literary talks, meetings with authors and similar extension activities.

There were two sections in the Volochinsk district library; for children 6-10 years old and 11-14 years old. Each section had its own lending collection and reading room.

The book stock was on open access and was classified according to age groups. For children 7-8 years old displays were organized of fairy tales, short stories and poetry. Displays for children 9-10 years old covered such topics as Lenin, the Soviet Union, the pioneers of Komsomol, foreign countries, nature study, animals. Card catalogues for this age group included one for fiction and one for books on popular science. Each card was annotated. There was also a permanent book display- “Behind the Pages of Your Textbooks”.

Children in school classes 5-8 had free access to the books chosen for their age group, which were arranged in subject fields-social sciences, natural sciences, technology, art, history, geography, etc. There were alphabetical and classified catalogues and card indexes to various kinds of books and to magazine and newspaper articles. Reference books were available in the reading rooms.

The Volochinsk district library also had an aquarium, a winter garden, a television set, a music room and a fairy tale room. It advised 120 school libraries and many public and trade-union libraries. It kept teachers, youth workers and other interested readers informed about new acquisitions. It lent books to kindergartens and boarding schools and advised them on methodology. It was stated to be a typical children’s district library.

Smaller than the district children’s libraries were the children’s sections of village libraries. A typical village library would possess 500-700 books. The children were encouraged to participate in the activities of local Friends of Books and of the Libraries.

School libraries In Soviet Russia in 1970 there were 45 million school children served


by 166,000 school libraries in eight class schools with paid librarians. In the elementary schools were small collections of books served by teachers who received special allowances for their library work.

School libraries were provided in all secondary and in the majority of eight grade schools and had a full time librarian. The school library No. 330 in Moscow was described as a good example. It served 1200 children and occupied two rooms which contained 40,000 volumes. Books were issued to forms on special days, except for the first and second forms which obtained their books through their teachers, and the senior forms which had free access to the library on any day of the week. Book selection and book recommendations were shared between librarians and teachers. The librarian kept in close contact with the various school societies and groups and gave advice as required.

Not all the 100,000 schools in the Soviet Union had libraries. Those with libraries were often not up to the standard of the Moscow school No. 330. They were often inadequate from the point of view of accommodation, book stock and staff, but this was true of many schools throughout the world.

In view of Lenin’s precept that parallelism must be avoided, there was concern in the Soviet Union to establish a co-ordinated system of children’s libraries and to determine the place of each type of library within the system. There was still “a great deal of parallelism in the work of children’s and school libraries” and efforts were being made to reduce this and so to help eradicate some shortcomings, to make better use of the book collections and to raise the level of educational work with children.

Other children’s libraries In addition to public children and school libraries, libraries for chil-

dren were maintained in recreational centres like pioneer palaces, children’s parks, camps and other places where children congregated. There were 2000 children’s sections of public libraries and over 70,000 village libraries worked with children.

Most trade union libraries had special children’s sections and there were separate trade union children’s libraries in large towns.

Guidance of children’s reading The paper stressed that Soviet librarians and teachers were of the

view that children’s reading should be guided by qualified persons and that librarians should assist children to select books. One object of this guidance of children’s reading was to “deepen their knowledge, form their materialistic and atheistic outlook, foster in them devotion to their


socialist country, to communist ideals, to civic duty, to evoke in them independent interests and the thirst for knowledge”.

Soviet librarians tried “to influence the tastes and interests” of the younger children “for at an early age children were especially recep- tive”. They encouraged children to read about Lenin and his work, and considered talks with their readers as one of the most effective ways of guiding readers. They asked children to comment on the book they had read and did everything possible to help them to understand its theme and “to correctly evaluate the book, its style and artistic merit” and to utilize its contents for studies and in life. Reading of stories aloud helped children to understand books. Literary hours devoted to individual writers were helpful. Literary games were popular with younger children. Book discussions, readers’ conferences, meetings with authors were suitable for older children. All types of activities were encouraged which helped them to understand the “content and specificity of a book more thoroughly” and “to analyse it properly” . . . The main purpose was ‘9.0 teach them to find something new in the books they read and put this knowledge to good use”.

Soviet children’s libraries investigated thoroughly the reading habits of their readers. They taught them how to find the books required, “to make proper use of library book stocks” and “how to work with a book, a newspaper or a magazine”. This was becoming of great importance because of the increasing need in the modern world to find information and keep up to date.

Children must be taught to work in libraries on their own after they had left school and provision was made in the school curriculum to teach the use of libraries. Children in elementary schools had lessons devoted to reading in which children were encouraged to describe and comment on the books they had read. In higher forms they learned how to make abstracts and to make reports on the contents of books. For children in forms l-4 the school curriculum covered class and home libraries, “acquaintance with a book”, “book care” how to read a book, book illustrations, how to compile a diary and sketch book and how a book is produced. In senior forms children were introduced to more advanced subjects-the function of the library in Soviet Russia, the teaching of Lenin and his wife on libraries, book selection, how to use the classified catalogue, how to use reference books and how to read various types of book. Practical work consisted of the compilation of lists of books for holiday reading and tracing specific facts. Children were also encouraged to select and issue books in the library.

Children’s Book Weeks had become a prominent nation-wide feature during Spring school holidays. These gave children the opportunity to


meet authors, publishers and editors, to look at exhibitions and to participate in book discussions, conferences and similar activities. Children’s Book Week was usually opened by an event in the House of Unions in Moscow where children met prominent writers, public figures and art workers.

In the House of Unions many groups of Russian young people could quite understand the value of the inauguration of Children’s Book Week in these impressive surroundings. The House of Unions was usually booked for a whole week for activities in connection with Children’s Book Week.

Children’s Book Week gave an opportunity not only to influence children but to draw the attention of adults to the value of books. Teachers undertook surveys of reading, whilst meetings of parents were often addressed by librarians during children’s book weeks.

Research in children’s reading The paper submitted by T. Lukitschewa to the 1970 IFLA Council in

Moscow-Einige Fragen der Arbeit mit den Kindern in den Bibliotheken- discussed problems connected with the guidance and study of children’s reading. Soviet librarians analysed the characteristics of the reading of children of various age groups. In this work the reading record card was of great value. Great attention was paid to ensure that this was syste- matically maintained, for it could give an impression of the personality of the child, and its interests and preferences. The example was quoted of the reading record card of a child aged 10 who was a reader in the city central library of Gaidar Moscow. Although only ten years old, he had been a member of the library for seven years. His parents were engineers who possessed their own large library which included many children’s books. He was also a borrower from the school library. His hobbies were recorded in 1968 to be hockey and football. In 1967 at the age of seven he stated that he preferred animal books, in 1968 at the age of eight he liked animal and war books; in 1970 at the age of ten he preferred books on astronomy. In March 1970 a note stated that he liked books on cosmonauts. In addition to the record of books issued to him, and of those read by him the reading record card had notes on his re- quests and the reasons for them. He requested a novel by Jules Verne because he had already read one. Books chosen by the reader himself by open access to the book stock were recorded.

The paper stressed that details about the child reader made it possible for the librarian to direct the child’s reading and to extend his talent for reading. The Russian poet S. Marschak had written that literature required talented readers as well as talented authors. The librarian could


develop this talent only in the basis of a comprehensive knowledge of the child’s interests and preferences.

Systematic analysis of reading record cards enabled the librarian not only to follow the development of readers’ interests, but also the results of his educational work. Hence it was considered by Soviet librarians to be essential to preserve the reading record cards for the whole period of library use.

The study of the personality of the child is the basis of the educational work of the librarian, who assisted readers in different ways, in accordance with their individual characteristics.

Readers were given the right to choose books themselves from the open shelves. In the choice of books for the open shelves, Soviet librarians were mindful of the comments of Lenin’s wife, N. K. Krupskaya, who had been a teacher: “A certain freedom must be permitted”, but not in the sense that the child is given harmful books, but in the sense that we give him a certain freedom of choice from the selected books.

This summarizes the avowed concept of Soviet public libraries: maximum circulation of approved books for propagandist purposes.

public libraries in the u.s.s.r.: soviet studies

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