Lenin Library Research Articles

Three Russian National Libraries: An analysis of Soviet studies

Founded in 1862, the functions of the State Lenin Library were, as stated in the exhibition to mark the 1970 IFLA Council in Moscow, to act : (I) as the central library of the U.S.S.R.; (2) as a state depository of printed publications and manuscripts; (3) as the leading scientific and research institution in the field of library science, bibliography and the history of printing; (4) as a centre of recommendatory bibliography; (5) as a methodological and consultative centre for the libraries of the U.S.S.R.

Soviet Russian Given Names

RUSSIAN ONOMASTICSis a field in which there is much opportunity for scholarly research. Given names, in particular, still need much investigation. Only about a dozen scholars in Russia and the Soviet Union have concerned themselves with the problem of personal names, and even less research has been done abroad. In recent years, some research has been done in the Soviet Union mainly on what the Soviet researchers call new This term is generally meant to include those names which became popular in Russia only after the Revolution of 1917 and which are not found in the Russian Orthodox Church Calendar of Saints. Only one book has been written entirely on the subject of Soviet names. This one, Novye imena1 (New Names), by D. Delert, published in Rostov in 1924, is out of print today and not available even in Moscow's Lenin Library. Among the other Soviet scholars who have dealt with the problem of names, A. V. Superanskaja and L. V. Uspenskij are the best known. Both have written articles and books on various aspects of Russian onomastics, and each has at least one chapter concerned with Soviet names. One other Soviet work contains a chapter on the new This is Russkie imena (Russian Names) by A. A. Ugrjumov, published in Vologda in 1962. This book, however, was written on a popular rather than a scholarly level, and it contains errors resulting from the strong influence of Soviet attitudes upon the author. In addition, some Soviet names appear in various dictionaries, ineluding the Russian-Ukrainian dictionary of names published by S. F. Levcenko in 1961, and the Russian-White Russian dictionary of names published by M. R. Sudnik in 1965.

East European Librarianship: Afterthoughts from a Library Tour

Libraries and librarianship in the USSR are frequently discussed in English language library journals, but scanty information available in English about the libraries of other socialistic countries. author, therefore, welcomed the opportunity to observe librarianship under a socialist form of government which presented itself during the summer of 1964 in the Seminar and Field Study on Education in East European countries conducted by the Comparative Education Society. countries visited on this six-week study tour were Poland, the USSR, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Through the cooperation of the various teachers unions, lectures on the educational, political and economic systems of these countries were arranged and the participants had the opportunity to meet representatives of the various ministries of education and culture, teachers, and other people active in public life for question and answer periods and social affairs. conferences were supplemented by numerous tours to universities, elementary and secondary schools, and pioneer camps. Utilizing the time and opportunities outside of the organized schedule, the writer contacted librarians and visited major libraries in the capitals of these countries. Almost everywhere the reception was most cordial and librarians gave generously of their time. After the buildings were toured, there were usually long discussions about the theory and practice of the profession on both sides of the Atlantic. following observations are based on these visits and on extensive reading in this field. It a well-known fact that the ideological differences that have separated countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain are particularly evident in those professions which by their nature can be developed into powerful forces to promote government causes. practice of librarianship, which to the casual observer appears to be the same in its basic principles all over the world, contains essential points of difference, which become targets of criticism on both sides.' Last year, for example, during a conference held at the Lenin Library in Moscow, librarianship in its relationship to modern society was discussed; Sovetskaia bibliografiia reported that most talks and discussions criticized tendencies, especially of U. S. librarians.2 Traditional Western librarianship called reactionary because it attempts to preserve and defend the capitalist order of classes, while its socialist counterpart is based on the solid foundations of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, and thus contributes to the realization of a new and more just, and therefore more progressive, socialist and communist order of classes.'3 Lenin had already early recognized the book, the library and librarianship as essential instruments in the formation of the socialist society.4 In this role, the book and the library have two well-publicized functions. First, they are frankly propagandistic: The book written to influence society; each individual book has a social function. 0 . . libraries are social institutions5 .... which are not allowed to be indifferent any longer.' They are, therefore, instruments of indoctrination which must assist in the formation of public opinion and exert influence upon the political and cultural life of society. second important function the education of the masses and the fight against illiteracy-which constitutes the second stage in the cultural revolution, the first being the conversion of the masses to the socialist ideals. Knowledge has to come within the reach of every citizen, and large amounts of the national budgets are spent to support educational institutions.7 Libraries share the responsibility of improving scientific knowledge and technical ex-

Shakespearean Studies in the USSR

There is no need to explain the difficulties connected with the scholarly study of Shakespeare in a foreign country. In this respect Soviet scholars are in much the same position as other scholars outside England and the USA, which possess the most source material, books and manuscripts. However, thanks to the rich collections in the public libraries in Moscow—the Lenin Library—and Leningrad—the Saltykov-Schedrin Library—and in the Arts faculties of the universities as well, practically all of world Shakespeareana is available to Soviet students. They also profit by communication with such important centers of scholarship as the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-on-Avon and the Folger Shakespeare Library at Washington.

Notes on Catalogs and Cataloging in Some Major Music Libraries of Moscow and Leningrad

Because I came away from Russia with impressions rather than statistics, and with somewhat hazy ideas as to the interrelationships among the various libraries I visited, it seems best to present an informal report rather than an impersonal one. I was in Moscow and Leningrad as a tourist for a month beginning January 17, 1961. Although I had no official status, Intourist arranged appointments for me in various libraries I asked to visit, and I was everywhere received cordially and graciously. My limited knowledge of Russian was something of a handicap. Even with the help of my guide-interpreters, it was often difficult to frame questions, and equally difficult to be certain of the answers. With those of our Russian colleagues who speak English there was something of the same problem in reverse. For anything (and there is probably much) that I have misunderstood or misinterpreted, I should like to ask pardon in advance. In Moscow, I visited the Lenin Library, the Conservatory, the Glinka Museum, the State Archive of Literature and Art, and the All-Union Book Chamber. In Leningrad, I became somewhat puzzled between institutions whose names I had listed in advance (unfortunately in English) and those which I visited. The institutions, both in and out of translation, tend to be confusing to the outsider, for, like the characters in Russian novels, they have both lengthy official designations and shorter popular titles. However, I am certain of the Leningrad Public Library, the Conservatory, the Research Institute of Theater and Music, the Institute of Russian Literature, and the Library Institute. Everywhere I was impressed with the tremendous wealth of the music collections, and the painstaking care and thought that has gone into the creation of their catalogs. Generalizing, as tourists and others are wont to do, from a limited number of examples, I am inclined to feel that librarians in the USSR are far less interested than we are in the card catalog as such. Particularly in the special libraries, the emphasis tends to be on printed bibliographies and catalogs. The card catalog is a practical tool, a means to an end, or even a by-product, and there is little concern with its physical perfection. No American librarian, fresh from the United States, can fail to be a little startled at the preponderance of hand-written cards. Printed cards are available for current imprints, and a fair proportion of material is represented by cards typed or reproduced from typed copy in the Lenin

Geography and Geographers in the Soviet Union

IN THE soviet union, geography holds a high status as an academic and practical discipline. The geographical tradition is long and honoured; it included such eminent exponents as P. P. Semenov Tyan-Shanskiy and N. M. Przhevarskiy, both Honorary Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society. The All-Union Geographical Society has been in existence for over a hundred years and, since its very founding, has had many links with the R.G.S. As early as the eighteenth century, M. B. Lomonosov, scientist and founder of Moscow University, enthusiastically advocated the study of geography and the Faculty of Geography at Moscow annually commemorates his interest in a series of papers, known as the Lomonosov Studies. Moreover, the Revolution, although it brought many new ideas and approaches to the subject, did not cause a break in this geographical tradition. Many outstanding figures, such as V. P. Semenov Tyan-Shanskiy, L. S. Berg and V. A. Obruchev, continued their research and teaching, long after 1917. Perhaps the clearest way to comprehend the framework of Soviet geographical instruction and investigation is to follow the career of a Soviet geographer. The schools which prepare for university are, at present, mostly ten-year schools, although this period is now being extended to eleven years under the recent reform of education. Under this new syllabus, children do no geography for the first three years, while in the fourth year it is combined with nature study. The fifth to eighth classes do two hours of physical geography a week, the ninth class none, the tenth and eleventh two hours a week of economic geography. Soviet geographers are much concerned that, under the new scheme, the number of hours devoted to the subject in schools has been appreciably decreased, together with the abolition of examina? tions in geography, and the introduction of textbooks felt to be inferior to those previously in use. On the credit side, there is strong emphasis in the schools on practical work and pupils are encouraged to carry out local studies, make relief models, take meteorological recordings and the like. On leaving school, the intending geographer must now undertake two years' employment and then may enter either a pedagogic institute (or Teachers' Training College) or a university. There are sixty-two pedagogic institutes with departments of geography, while of the forty universities, thirty have faculties of geography, either independent or in combination with geology or biology. By far the largest university and largest faculty of geography are at Moscow. The Faculty has over 1000 full-time students and 800 evening and external students, while the staff num? ber over 300. The facilities it enjoys are enviable. It is located in the new university on the Lenin Hills, where six floors of the central block of the giant skyscraper are given over to the Faculty for lecture rooms, laboratories and staff rooms. Here, too, is a section of the Gorkiy University Library, with a large collection of geographical material, including a limited selection of Western books and periodicals. The library's value is increased by its ability to borrow books from the Lenin Library. Apart from the Faculty, in the same building eight floors are devoted to a Museum of^ Earth Sciences, that is, geography and geology. Together with divisions for mineralogy, stratigraphy and pedology, there is one floor, consisting of a series of displays for every region of the U.S.S.R., in which the whole complex of the

The Lenin Library

During a recent visit of a few weeks to Moscow I made frequent use of the Lenin Library, and the Editor has asked me to supply a brief account of this institution from the reader's point of view. I am very happy to do so, as this affords an opportunity to express my appreciation of the very high standard of its organisation, the excellence of its services to readers, and the helpfulness of its staff. The library is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, including Sundays, except on the last day of each calendar month, when most of its departments are closed for cleaning. Also, it is most conveniently situated, with a Metro station at its entrance and two others, on other lines, very near, while no less than fourteen bus routes have stops at its door. Thus, the fact that my use of the library had to be sporadic (often when only a free hour or less was available before, between or after the day's appointments) did not prevent me from getting through the complete back files of several publications which are not available outside the U.S.S.R.

Banned Books in the Lenin Library

Spending a few days in Moscow in September 1958, I tried to find out to what extent books by some of the principal condemned writers and politicians of the 1920s are available in the Lenin Library; to find out in practice, that is, not merely by general enquiry, but by requesting to be supplied with certain books for reading in the Library. This brief account is based entirely on a few days' personal work in the Library, and any generalized implications may well be not completely accurate.

Banned books in the Lenin library

Spending a few days in Moscow in September 1958, I tried to find out to what extent books by some of the principal condemned writers and politicians of the 1920s are available in the Lenin Library; to find out in practice, that is, not merely by general enquiry, but by requesting to be supplied with certain books for reading in the Library. This brief account is based entirely on a few days' personal work in the Library, and any generalized implications may well be not completely accurate.

Soviet Culture: Old Trends and New

THE Soviet government cannot be accused of a lack of interest in problems of culture. Immediately after the October Revolution, a Commission for the Preservation of Historical Monuments was established. Later, when Gorky drew the attention of Lenin, with whom he was on friendly terms, to the destitute condition of scholars, the Central Commission for the Improvement of the Living Standard of Scholars, later renamed Commission for the Assistance of Scholars, was created on Lenin's orders. Stalin, too, has acquired the reputation of a Maecenas. His name is attached to the prizes awarded to Soviet scholars, writers, artists, musicians, and actors. The award of a medal with Stalin's portrait is accompanied bya large monetary prize up to 200,000 rubles. Apart from the prizes, some writers, playwrights, painters, and actors earn large sums of money from the sale of their works, their production on the stage, and filming. In Soviet Russia a great number of books are published, and many new learned institutions are founded every year. The number of universities has increased 250 per cent as compared with pre-revolutionary times, reaching the figure 32, and the number of specialized schools for the training of different types of specialists has surpassed 800. The Academy of Sciences has greatly enlarged its scope of activity, and its branches have spread all over the country, as have the various institutes for research. In Moscow, the Library of the former Rumiantsev Museum, renamed the Lenin Library, has been considerably enlarged. It comprises over 1i million books. The theatre has also come into its share of attention. Moscow boasts now of twenty-three theatres. Opera houses and drama theatres have also been established in the provinces, in all the Soviet republics, including the Asiatic. Recently, since the Second World War, even some kolkhozes have been acquiring their own motion picture equipment. The number of museums is also on the increase. Especially note-

The Children's and Juniors' Reading Room of the Lenin Library in Moscow

Such silence reigned in the children's reading room that when I asked one of the librarians, sotto voce, to direct me to the director's office, some of the young heads went up and I could read in their eyes a look of surprise as if to say, “What did she come for anyway?”