Discussion of Publishing Activities of Libraries at Non/fictioNo 20

Abstract

The article presents an overview of the Round table “Publishing activities of libraries: present and future”, held on November 29, 2018 on the initiative of the Russian state library in the framework of the International fair of intellectual literature Non/fictioNo 20. The purpose of this review is to answer a number of questions on the assessment of the current state and development prospects of the branch, the relevance of the main issues raised for discussion and consideration of them from different points of view. The author considers the statistical data of the Russian book chamber on the number of libraries in the country engaged in publishing activity, on its performance, thematic areas and repertoire. The author presents the opinions and main theses of the participants — representatives of library community, publishing, book distribution structures and government agencies — on the development trends in publishing activities of the libraries of different levels; and describes their publishing products. The article describes the tasks, repertoire, methods and forms of financing of modern professional library publications. At present, many libraries are not the subject of publishing activity, but work in cooperation with other publishing structures; it is not always taken into account by statistics and, therefore, further analysis and comprehension is needed. The author evaluates the experience of partnership between libraries and publishers using the example of specific projects. The raised problems are relevant, and currently there is a high interest in the publishing activities of libraries. There is a need for further discussion and analysis. The round table meeting is considered as the beginning of detailed conversation, which will be continued at further events.