State Library Research Articles

Die Sammlung Wolfram Eberhard zur Populären Chinesischen Sittengeschichte

The following list describes booklets which were banned in the 1960s in Hong Kong and Taiwan because of dealing with sexual topics. They were available only under the counter, did not enter libraries and official bibliographies and usually do not provide exact metadata. Most names are pseudonyms and the data on the place and year of publication are mostly missing. The Sinologist Wolfram Eberhard, who had dealt with similar subjects in his Guilt and Sin in Traditional China (Berkeley 1967) and The Daily Life of a Chinese Courtesan Climbing up a Tricky Ladder (Hong Kong 1980), possibly planned on also dealing with this popular material which he collected on his travels but he never found the time. Therefore, it is to be considered serendipitous that this little collection was acquired by the Bavarian State Library in Munich, probably the only library in the world to hold it.

“Forgive Bibliophilic Hobbies”: Letters From D.V. Ulyaninsky to Book Historians, Publishers, and Collectors

22 letters of 1900—1918 by D.V. Ulyaninsky (1861—1918) addressed to bibliophiles, publishers and collectors are published: B.S. Bodnarsky, L.E. Buchheim, N.P. Likhachev, M.Ya. Paradelov, P.K. Simoni, A.S. Suvorin, V.K. Trutovsky, V.G. Ulyaninsky. They are kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and contain valuable information about the formation and fate of the library, as well as the collection of ex-libris D.V. Ulyaninsky, his publishing activities, cooperation with public organizations, personal ties, lifestyle and style of communication. These sources can be used to study the history of bibliophilia, bibliography, antique book trade and in general the intellectual life of Russia in the early XX century.

A Multifaceted Scientist: a Bio-bibliographic Portrait of A.Yu. Samarin

The review of the eleventh issue of the series “Russian Historians of Science and Technology”, published since 2005 under the auspices of the S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Natural Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHNST RAS), is presented. It is called “Samarin Alexander Yuryevich: materials for bio-bibliography” (Moscow, 2023) and is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of A.Yu. Samarin, the famous historian of books and book business, bibliographer and librarian, historian of science, organizer of research, Deputy Director General for Scientific Publishing of the Russian State Library, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. He has also been successfully cooperating with the IHNST RAS for a long time, being concurrently the chief researcher of the Department of Historiography and Source Studies of the History of Science and Technology. The review reveals the main content of this collection, which in a multidimensional and multifaceted way shows the role and place of A.Yu. Samarin in organizational, scientific and educational activities for the benefit of the Russian book culture, as well as introduces readers to little-known details of his life path. Special attention is paid to the diverse author and editorial activities of A.Yu. Samarin (including as editor-in-chief of the Bibliography magazine, which, after the inclusion of the Russian Book Chamber in ITAR-TASS, was published as an independent publication in 2015—2020). It is concluded that the publication of the index is an important milestone in the development of book, library and bibliographic knowledge about the history, current state and prospects of Russian book culture.

Psychosomatic aspects of vitiligo. A review of the literature

The active interest of researchers in the topic of vitiligo is due to both the potential for optimizing the treatment of chronic dermatosis of unknown etiology and the high psychosocial significance of the problem, which goes beyond the purely medical sphere.
 The review deals with psychosomatic aspects of vitiligo: stressful manifestations; stigmatization and quality of life of patients with vitiligo; nosogenic (secondary) and comorbid vitiligo mental disorders; the article considers complex approaches to therapy, taking into account psychosomatic factors. The literature was searched in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, MedLine, Embase, Cochrane, Russian State Library, the Sechenov Central Science Medical Library.
 It seems extremely relevant and promising to develop a clinical typology of comorbid vitiligo psychosomatic disorders with the development of clinical recommendations for the identification, routing and therapy of an extensive contingent of patients with chronic dermatosis.

“Books are Not a Сommodity”: Book Publishers and Booksellers in the Notebooks of the Dostoevskys 1875–1877

Based on the material of F. M. Dostoevsky’s 1875–1876 notebook, stored in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts, fund 212.1.15, as well as on the material of A. G. Dostoevskaya’s 1876–1877 notebook and subscription books (preserved in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library, fund 93.III.2.1 and in the Department of the Manuscripts of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskiy Dom), Russian Academy of Sciences, fund 100, no. 30729), the article examines certain names of book publishers and the booksellers with whom the Dostoevskys dealt in the mid-1870s. The commentary on these names is most often absent in the first academic Complete works of the writer (in 30 volumes) and in the publication of this notebook of Dostoevsky in volume 83 of the Literary Heritage series, or it is too brief. The purpose of the author is to supplement the existing commentary or to provide new one, as well as to clarify some of the names, based on the entries from A. G. Dostoevskaya’s notebook and signature books (which were written in a handwriting close to calligraphic) and literature on publishing and book trade in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. The article not only provides extended commentary on such famous names as F. A. Bitepage, M. O. Wolf, Ya. A. Isakov, but also reviews biographies and clarifies the readings of names from Dostoevsky’s notebook of the following book publishers and booksellers A. I. Bortnevsky, F. I. Kolesov, F. G. Mikhin, A. I. Manukhin, I. P. Semennikov.

About the Miscellany of Charms from the Collection of V. M. Undolsky

The article deals with a collection of handwritten charms of the second half of the 17th century from the collection of V. M. Undolsky (Russian State Library. F. 310. No. 1179). The manuscript was published twice by L. I. Sazonova and A. L. Toporkov (in 2000 and 2002) with a commentary, but it has not yet been the subject of textual and linguistic investigations, which are necessary in the study of texts circulating in the handwritten sphere. These purposes make possible to draw conclusions about the origin of the collection, the pecularities of its creation and sources. The article presents the results of the study manuscript de visu. The special attention is paid to the peculiarities of handwriting, scribe’s mistakes and reflections of live pronunciation which is considered in the context of the handwritten culture of Old Rus’. In present article the observations is based on the textual, linguistic and comparative research methods that are relevant in the study of medieval manuscripts. The investigation allowed to propose several commented refinements to the edition based on a detailed study of paleography, textual features, and language, as well as the involvement of other manuscript and printed texts, historical and dialect dictionaries. The scribe’s errors in the manuscript from the collection of V. M. Undolsky are related to the existence of the antigraph, which does not allow us to agree with the publishers’ assumption that the collection was recorded from an oral source. The dialectal features of the charms leads to the conclusion about the Central or Middle Russian dialect of the scribe. It is possible that the owner of the manuscript, Vasily Volotsky, is the podyachy Vasily Volotsky, who is mentioned in the documents of 1699 and 1701 years of the Arzamas clerk’s izba.

Exploring the usage and Developments of the Collection of the Ceylon Room at the Library in University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Presently, being one of the largest universities in Sri Lanka in terms of student number, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) is a leading higher education institution with diverse courses, research and inventions. The main library of USJ exceeds fifteen thousand members in its user community, including 862 permanent academic staff. The Ceylon Room (CR) Collection is considered one of the most valuable collections in the library of USJ. CR Collection consists of various printed materials significant to Sri Lankan literature. The first objective is to assist the user community in their academic endeavors and to observe the Ceylon Room usage and development needs. The other objective of this study was to find out whether the users are satisfied with the existing CR Collection. Data was gathered from the library usage records, structured interviews and through questionnaires distributed among students and academics who visited the Ceylon Room from May to August 2021. The purposive sampling method was applied, and the sample for this study was taken from three faculties out of ten faculties of the university which directly have access to the main library, i.e., Humanities and Social Sciences, Applied Sciences and Management Studies and Commerce. The available library statistics were used as primary data obtained from the records in the CR collection from 2015 to 2019. Results revealed that, most students and academic staff were satisfied with the CR Collection, and the satisfaction rates were 80% and 53%, respectively. The highest usage of the CR Collection by students is from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) (78%), and the least usage of the CR Collection is from the students of the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS) (1%). Most of the academic staff of FHSS (65%) have indicated that they used the CR Collection during 2015-2019. During that period, the least number of academic staff members that have used the Ceylon Room belonged to the FAS, which is 6%. Results showed that academic staff and students of FHSS using the existing CR Collection are 65%. Therefore, the library should give more attention to the faculties of the Applied Sciences and Management Studies and Commerce to make their students and academic staff aware of the availability and new additions of the CR Collection. Furthermore, the collection should be continuously re-evaluated to meet user requirements to support their academic activities.

The Book by J. P. Eberhard on Applied Mathematics from the Book Collection of Kolyvan-Voskresensk Mining Plants

The purpose of the article is to consider the book by J. P. Eberhard (Johann Peter Eberhard, 1727– 1779) “Beiträge zur Mathesi Applicata...” (1757) in the context of the reconstruction of the composition of the foreign part of the book collection of Kolyvan Voznesensk mining plants. The edition is a collection of articles on applied mathematics, devoted to the issues of mechanics, optics and gnomonics and intended, according to Eberhard,“for students attending his lectures, for other teachers to prepare and conduct classes, and for those who want to help themselves in the study of applied mathematics”. The article defines the affiliation of the book to the library collections of the Kolyvan Voznesensk mining plants on the basis of service marks, reflecting the earliest stages of the use of the copy as a part of the Altai state libraries collections, attention is paid to thepersonality of the German author, whose works undoubtedly were a part of the scientific and technical thought of Europe in the second half of the XVIII century, the content of the articles composing the book and their compliance with the tasks of the Altai mining industry are revealed. The work “Beiträge zur Mathesi Applicata...” is considered in the context of other works, the continuation of which, according to the author's definition, it is and which, according to our assessment, are also presented in the book collection of the Kolyvan-Voskresensk mining plants. The results of the study expand the idea of the scale of J. P. Eberhard's personality and the relevance of his work for professional mining education and ensuring the production process in the Altai Mining District in the XVIII century, also add to the history of creation of the first in Siberia scientific technical library collection.

Emerging Technologies and Security of Library Resources at Bayelsa State Library Board

This study investigates the application of emerging technologies in the security of library resources at Bayelsa State Library Board (BYSLB). The loss of rare intellectually stimulating and information-rich resources due to ineffective security methods at the Bayelsa State Library Board resulted in this study. Two objectives and two research questions guided the study, and two research hypotheses were formulated and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study was carried out using correlation research designs, with a population of 24, comprising professionals, paraprofessionals, and supporting staff. A census sampling technique was used to select all the respondents. A questionnaire was used for data collection and a total of 24 copies were administered, but only 21 copies were found valid for analysis. The data was analysed using the mean score and standard deviation for research questions and the Pearson product-moment correlation to test the hypotheses. The findings reveal that the application of emerging technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), barcode, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) were not fully adapted. There is a significant relationship between RFID/barcode and CCTV technologies and the security of library resources at BYSLB. The study concluded that librarians should strive to adopt technological applications for securing public library resources. They should organise orientation programmes to educate users on the importance of safeguarding library resources. The study recommended, among others, funding from the government and private sectors, training of library staff as security specialists who will conduct risk assessment, and disaster preparedness towards library resources.

Increasing Space for Collections Storing: National Libraries Practice

Library collection development is directly related to the issues of placement, storage and delivery of documents. The eternal storage of the totality of documents that make up the national heritage is one of the functions of national libraries (NL), which solve the problem of placing materials with consideration to their financial and other capabilities.An overview of the successful national libraries’ practice in solving the lack of storage space problem is presented (Library of Congress, British Library, German National Library, National Diet Library of Japan, National Library of France, Royal Library of Sweden, Austrian National Library, National Library of the Czech Republic, Royal Library of the Netherlands). The experience of the Russian State Library in solving this problem is also analyzed.Finding place for growing collections with a tight of storing conditions is a challenge that requires not only constant attention, but also a flexible approach. Various options for solving this problem are being considered: construction of new (including remote) storage facilities; efficient use of existing premises (for example, an implementation of high density storage systems or co-opting of premises built for other purposes — idle exhibition centers functional conversion, etc.); lease of rentable areas.The research is based on the analysis of information from official websites of the national libraries.The appendix presents the results of the NL survey on the following issues: withdrawing of certain categories of materials, dispatching them to depositories; construction of new storage buildings; statistics concerning active use and actual availability of collections.

Assessment of the Need for Staff of Public Libraries of the Subjects of the Russian Federation

The monitoring of the staffing needs of public libraries of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, conducted by the Russian State Library, shows the dynamics of the regional library policy and allows us to determine the vectors of development of the human resources potential of libraries in the near future.The staffing needs of public libraries of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation — participants of the monitoring, their size and professional structure are different and are mainly conditioned by the size of the regional library network, the level of staffing in the region and the professional composition of library staff. These factors directly determine the indicators of staffing needs of libraries in the near future.The needs for library specialists with higher profile education prevail in relation to other professional groups. However, the absolute indicator of these needs does not exceed half of the regions’ staffing needs and accounts for 43.07 percent of their total number. At the same time, the average value of the relative indicator of the regions’ needs in library specialists with higher profile education is only 29.7 staff units.The need for library specialists with secondary non-core and core additional education remains high. Based on the requests of libraries, their number should be increased by 5.76 percent of the available number.The regional comparative-correlation analysis of the need for library specialists revealed that there is a great need for specialists with higher profile education in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which have specialised universities that train bachelors and masters in “Library and Information Activities” (Republic of Tatarstan — 77 specialists, Altai Krai — 87, Krasnodar Krai — 174, Samara Oblast — 127). Perhaps, the high demand is due to the low availability of specialists with higher profile education in libraries in these regions (on average — 33.21%).The monitoring data indicate an increased need of public libraries for IT specialists: it amounts to 11.65% of the total staffing needs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Based on the stated needs, the number of IT-specialists should be increased by 30.42%. At the same time, the need for IT specialists with higher profile education significantly exceeds the need for specialists with secondary profile education: 71.45% to 19.35% respectively.The needs of libraries in specialists of other professions are relatively small and occupy 8.43 percent of their total staffing needs. Of these, 71.65 percent are specialists with higher professional education.

Library in the Space of Books and Events of the 36th Moscow International Book Fair

From August 30 to September 3, 2023, the 36th Moscow International Book Fair was held at the Expo Centre Central Exhibition Complex on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. The Forum brought together participants from various regions of Russia, as well as representatives of 21 countries, including seven countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Germany, China and Iran, and was attended by more than 34 thousand people. The VKontakte social network has become a partner of online broadcasts and the official MIBF network. More than 300 events were held at seven venues. Publishers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and 26 other Russian regions presented their books.The article presents an annual review of the activities of the MIBF: The National competition “Book of the Year — 2023”, the competition of the Russian Library Association “The Best professional Book of the Year”, the 3rd Readers’ Assembly of the Commonwealth, the industry conference “Book Market of Russia — 2023”, the Moscow International Children’s Book Fair. In the event context of the most relevant events for the library industry, libraries’ understanding of their role in the socio-cultural life of society is revealed: achievements and initiatives aimed at preserving heritage, promoting books and reading are noted, new projects, including book publishing, are presented, the results of the participation of the Russian State Library and the publishing house “Pashkov Dom” in the MIBF-2023 are summed up.

Bibliographic Annals of Russian Bibliology — 2009

A critical review of the next bibliographic index “Bibliology: Index of Literature for 2009” published in 2023 by “Pashkov House” is presented. This book was prepared by the employee of the Russian State Library, authoritative bibliographer L.I. Fursenko. This issue covers the publications on bibliology and book culture (from the general problems to the bibliophily and book art) that published in the Russian Federation during 2009. The reviewer underlines the need to continue one of the most important bibliographic project in the sphere of the contemporary book science and culture. The traditional merits of this voluminous index and its enduring relevance not only for specialists of book business but another ones representing wider spheres of science, culture and education are specially noted.

The Russian Tradition of Publishing Illuminated Bibles

The article is devoted to the tradition of publishing engraved biblical albums in Russia (17th — early 20th centuries), made by Russian engravers after the prototypes of European engravings or after author’s drawings by graduates of the Russian Academy of Arts. Illustrated collections on the subjects of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament based on drawings by Russian artists — A.E. Egorov, A.A. Agin, M.N. Koshelevskaya, V.S. Kryukov, V.D. Fartusov — are considered. The source material for the work were copies from large collections of graphic art: the isofond of the Russian State Library, the Museum of Christian Art “Church-Archaeological Study” of the Moscow Theological Academy and the Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve, which are first introduced by the author into the scientific turnover.At present, Western European illustrated Bibles are widely studied by specialists in various fields of scientific knowledge as a large-scale phenomenon of book culture. The ways of penetration and distribution of foreign editions in the Moscow state are studied; the search, accounting and description of copies in domestic library collections are carried out; marginalia on the pages of albums and captions to images are investigated; techniques, biographies of masters, stylistics of works and methods of copying foreign samples in Russian artistic practice are studied. At the same time, the tradition of publishing Russian illuminated Bibles, created by analogy with foreign ones, remains poorly studied.Pre-revolutionary catalogues of Russian illustrated editions contain descriptions of Bible albums of the first half of the 19th century, while the vast array of illustrated printed matter of the second half of the century has not yet been systematised and catalogued.The purpose of this study is to partially fill this lacuna, to restore the chronology of the appearance of the first domestic folio Bibles, and to present an overview of lithographed editions of pictures of the Sacred History of the Old and New Testament of the second half of the 19th century.

Thomas Bewick — Engraver, Publisher, Innovator

The article is devoted to the problem of revising assessment of the work of the outstanding British engraver and publisher Thomas Bewick. Traditionally, it is considered in the context of the general history of engraving development, mostly not connected with either animalistics or scientific editions. In this regard, T. Bewick’s works of artistic significance belong to natural-scientific illustrations and are used in popular science editions. The erroneous assessment of his works is associated with a widespread stereotype in which scientific illustration is considered as something of low artistic value. The purpose of this research is to study the genesis of T. Bewick’s creativity by analyzing his main works. Of particular interest is the research of the artistic features of woodcut technique, which, thanks to T. Bewick, has found a new life. It is traced the evolution of the engraver’s work from his early period to mature one. The complexity of Bewick’s talent is noted not only as an engraver of book illustrations, but also as an engraver of bookplates. The characteristic of the technique of cutting a design into hardwood cut across is given, the innovative methods thanks to which Bewick has brought this type of an engraving to a new level of book illustration are revealed. Based on the memoirs of Bewick, the author traces the history of the creation of his main books — “A General History of the Quadrupeds” and “A History of British Birds”. It is noted that illustrations by G. Buffon and H. White served as additional sources for “A History of British Birds” despite the use of his own sketches. The author analyses the illustrations and engravings from these books, which are kept in the collections of the Research and Scientific Department of Rare Books (Museum of Book) of the Russian State Library. The structural features of the brief descriptions of “A General History of the Quadrupeds” are considered. Particular attention is paid to the style of the vignettes, which present an integral part of Bewick’s creative credo. Such features of Bewick’s illustrations as realism, as well as the depiction of humorous genre scenes and jokes are revealed. The author notes that at a late stage of Bewick’s art work he rarely uses black cross-hatching, using instead combinations of the wide fields and carefully engraved white spots. The most essential features of Bewick’s engraving are revealed: the principle of “white line”, hatching with crossed and parallel lines, creation of halftones with very thin strokes and tiny dots. It is emphasized that although Bewick’s illustrations have been published in popular scientific publications, they have influenced the development of scientific illustration through their highly artistic execution. It is concluded that woodcut technique allowed to simulate the volume of an image by means of a white stroke.

Design and construction of station caverns – Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project

AbstractThe Metro Tunnel Project in Melbourne, Australia, involves the construction of 9 kms of twin rail tunnels and five new underground stations, including the State Library and Town Hall in the City Centre. The stations aim to provide spacious areas measuring around 260 m in length, 30 m in width, and 23 m in height. To address ground conditions, load behaviour, and land constraints, the stations are being built as trinocular form caverns, with a sequential excavation of the central (cavern) tunnel followed by the outer (platform) tunnels. Advanced 3D numerical analyses guided the design of the primary support and permanent linings, with temporary steel columns incorporated into permanent linings for efficiency. Close collaboration and an observational design approach facilitated efficient construction methods and work sequencing. The paper presents insights into the successful design, construction, and verification approaches on aspects of the project.

Perancangan Sistem Informasi Perpustakaan Negeri Pelangi Berbasis Website

Technological developments make the need for appropriate technology a main thing in public services. Likewise with the Pelangi State Library which is located in Podosugih, Pekalongan City. Currently the Pelangi State Library needs a Library Information System that can be used as a means of borrowing and borrowing books at the library. A system based on a website to make it easier for users to access access anywhere. A library information system that has 2 actors, namely library staff or admin who can add members and also list books. Apart from admins, there are also user actors, namely library book borrowers who can fill in their own lists of borrowing and returning books independently. Therefore, a library information system was created using Unifield Modeling Language (UML) design. From the existing design, a Rainbow State Library Information System has been designed. The Information System has also been tested using black box testing and shows that the system built is in accordance with the system design that has been created.

ISSUES OF SEMIOTIC INTERPRETATION OF AFRICAN LITERATURE

The review presents the results of the international round table On the Semiotics of Forms in African Literature, which was held on July 19, 2023 as part of the Festival of African Cultures at the Russian State Library for Foreign Literature named after M.I. Rudomino. The discussion was organized by the International Center for Semiotics and Intercultural Dialogue of the State Academic University for the Humanities (MTСS GAUGN) in cooperation with the Cultural Center Francothèque of the Russian State Library for Foreign Literature. The discussion was attended by Georice Berthin Madébé, Doctor of Linguistics and Semiotics, Leading Researcher at the National Center for Scientific and Technological Research of Gabon (Libreville), and Inna Merkoulova, Doctor of Linguistics and Semiotics, Associate Professor, founder and director of the GAUGN International Center for Semiotics and Intercultural Dialogue (Moscow). The participants discussed Professor Madebe’s book On the Semiotics of Forms. An Introduction to Semiotic Criticism of African Literature (2022).

За проложните жития на Константин-Кирил и Методий

The article focuses on three prologue texts dedicated to the Slavic first teachers Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius. The earliest of them is the Prologue Life of the Two Brothers, which probably arose in the 10th century and is preserved in three complete texts, the last of which was discovered and published by prof. Rumyana Pavlova. The contribution of R. Pavlova to the correct interpretation of a basic passage of the work is highlighted. The second part of the study provides information about new copies of the Prologue Lives of the two brothers, which became known thanks to digitized manuscripts and library inventories on the website of the Russian State Library.

An Assessment of the Extent to Which Public Libraries Use Statistical Data for Decision-Making

Statistical data contributes to strategic planning, creation and maintenance of a library. Such data is critical to the library’s collection development decisions. This study investigated the extent to which Rössing Foundation libraries use statistical data for decision-making. The objectives of the study were to establish how Rössing Foundation libraries analyse statistical data, to find out if the statistical data is used for the libraries’ management, to determine the extent to which the statistics relate to collection development, to find out if there are any challenges in the use of statistics at Rössing Foundation libraries, and to come up with solutions to the challenges. The study used a case study design and employed a qualitative research approach to collect data from library staff of two libraries within the Rössing Foundation. The target population consisted of 10 library staff and six librarians were selected through purposive sampling. The researchers collected data in two phases through face-to-face interviews. The first phase covered three librarians who were interviewed before the COVID-19 pandemic and the second phase covered the same number who were interviewed after the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of six librarians were interviewed. The findings revealed that the librarians at the two Rössing Foundation libraries in Swakopmund and Arandis were not qualified, and they lacked information and communication technology (ICT) skills. This posed a challenge in compiling reports. Moreover, some library patrons did not follow library procedures. The study was limited to two Rössing Foundation libraries in Arandis and Swakopmund, which are the only public libraries in Erongo region. Although the results from the study may not be generalised to other public libraries in the country, they draw attention to the need for public libraries to document accurate and reliable statistics for decision-making. The results will inform policy at national level. The major recommendation from this study was that Rössing Foundation should hire more librarians with skills and knowledge required to collect and analyse library statistics.