Book Heritage in the Collection of the National Museum of the Komi Republic

Abstract

The Scientific Library of the National Museum of the Komi Republic is one of the oldest libraries in the region. For more than 110 years of its history, a unique book collection has been formed, containing rare printed editions of the mid-18th - early 20th centuries from private collections of famous scientists, public figures, writers, teachers, as well as books and periodicals of scientific, educational and other government institutions of both the Komi region and Russia. The purpose of the article is to outline the main stages in the history of the Scientific Library of the National Museum of the Komi Republic collection, designed to identify and expose its unique rare editions for visitors.The first stage (1911-1919) is connected with the activities of the Ust-Sysolsk local historians and the Arkhangelsk Society for the Study of the Russian North, the second (1920-1930) was conducted by the Society for the Study of the Komi Territory. The third stage is limited by the period of the Great Patriotic War. Archaeographic expeditions for to collect handwritten books and early printed publications became significant for the fourth (1960s-1970s) period.In 2011, a new stage began in the life of the library, associated with the transfer of the book stock to the building of the Literary Museum named after I. Kuratov, one of the departments of the museum. When creating the space of the Literary Museum, a special place was assigned to the scientific library: the combination of the educational resource of the exposition and the scientific library with the reading room and book storage. Research activity is one of the main directions in the work of the library. Studies are actively carried out aimed at scientific and bibliographic description and examination of rare editions, identification, attribution and cataloging of book signs. Publications covering the results of researches become the concluding summing up both at the regional and Russian levels. The priority direction is a wide demonstration of their collections using computer technologies, which contributes to the expansion of opportunities for public access to rare book collections and allows expanding the list of visitors.