The Library of the RAS Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry – the successor to the library of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Chemical Laboratory

Abstract

The 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences is celebrated in 2024. Among its institutions, the libraries hold a special place as depositories of scientific knowledge rendering research support services. The authors discuss the experience of the Library of the Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was established in the second half of the 19th as the library of the Chemical Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The laboratory systematically purchased specialized journals, monographs and reference books demanded by the scientists, both on its own and through the Library of the Academy of Sciences. After the 1917 Revolution, the Laboratory went through several restructurings, and in 1934, along with other Academy departments was transferred to the city of Moscow. All these events were affecting the Library, its status and name having changed in succession to the Library of the Chemical Institute, Library of the Chemical Association, and that of the Department of Chemical Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences. One century after its foundation, the library's collections numbered more than 200 thousand copies, and it served all chemical institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1973, the library became affiliated with the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has kept this status till present day. Today, the Library is the depository of the comprehensive thematic collection of scientific literature, comprising the historical collection of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries and the most recent publications in general and inorganic chemistry.