V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War: Preparation and Release of Bibliographic Publications

Abstract

In the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, the authors consider the activity of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR (GBL) on preparation and release of bibliographic publications during the Great Patriotic War. This topic was covered in the specialized literature briefly and fragmentally (with the exception of work in the field of recommendation bibliography). The aim of the article is to fill in the existing gaps in the study of this area of GBL activity during the war.In the pre-war years, the GBL transformed into one of the leading bibliographic centres of the country — both reference and bibliographing. Both directions were mainly concentrated in the Scientific Bibliographic Department, where at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s preparation of bibliographic publications was structurally distinguished.With the beginning of the war, the GBL reorganized its work in accordance with the conditions and tasks of wartime. The amount of bibliographic work in the first months of the war was significantly reduced. Publishing activities, including the production of bibliographic publications, ceased and resumed in the second half of 1942. Recommendation indexes and lists on actual subjects were the main type of bibliographic materials created and published by the GBL during the war years.The article highlights the activities of two leading bibliographic departments of the GBL during this period: the Scientific Bibliographic Department and the Military Department. There are two areas of activity of the Scientific Bibliographic Department: general and scientific-auxiliary bibliography and recommendation bibliography. During the Great Patriotic War, the library produced mainly reference manuals, as well as also prepared several scientific publications. The authors present employees of both departments who have made the most significant contribution to the preparation of bibliographic publications. In addition, the article notes several bibliographic publications created in other structural divisions.