On May 27, Russia celebrates the All-Russian Day of Libraries. The importance of libraries for the development and preservation of national culture is enormous. Even now, in the age of electronic technology and the ubiquity of "screen reading", one can hardly speak of the "death of the library." In principle, even in the event of a dramatic decrease in the number of readers, even if readers practically stop going to libraries, their closure would be a crime against culture. After all, a library is, first of all, a repository of book thought, wisdom that does not disappear and does not become obsolete for centuries or millennia. A book forms and ennobles a person, educates him, and a person who has chosen for himself the noble profession of a book keeper is undoubtedly involved in education.
This holiday-related article will also focus on libraries. But about the unusual libraries - the military. Yes, there is a place in military history for such a peaceful phenomenon as libraries. Moreover, the moral, cultural and educational education of servicemen and, accordingly, the formation in them of those qualities that are turned into a defender of their country and its civilians, depends on military libraries in many respects.
The rulers and military leaders carried large enough libraries with them on military campaigns even in antiquity and the Middle Ages. But the full-fledged development of military libraries as a special branch began in modern times. The most important reason for the emergence of mass military libraries was the complication of military affairs, which requires constant improvement of knowledge about weapons, tactics and strategy, and military history. Of no less importance was the general increase in the level of culture and literacy of the nobility, and then of the “third estate”. In Russia, the first military libraries were formed at military units from the 17th - 18th centuries. After the creation of the General Staff in 1763, archives of military literature were formed under it.
HE. Komarova, who defended her thesis on the organization of library science in military educational institutions, identifies at least five stages in the development of the domestic military library system in military universities: the emergence of the military library system in the 17th-19th centuries; the formation of the Soviet military library system in the period between the revolution of 1917 and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War; the development of military librarianship during the war period of 1941-1945; the existence of the Soviet military library system in the post-war period 1945-1991; the modern stage of the existence of the military library system.
The idea of creating a scientific library for the Russian officers belongs to the Emperor Alexander I himself and his associate Prince Peter Volkonsky, who after the Franco-Russian war of 1805-1807. realized the need to improve the theoretical knowledge of military personnel, first of all - officers-quartermasters. In 1811, permission was given to establish a library at the General Staff of the Russian Army.
Following the creation of a central military library, through the efforts of individual officers - enthusiasts, libraries began to be created under military units. So, in 1816, the first officer's library appeared in the Separate Guards Corps. Officers' libraries appeared in the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments. For obvious reasons, the libraries were used exclusively by officers, and therefore they were called "officers". Moreover, a certain amount was calculated from the officers' annual salary, which was allocated for the regular replenishment of libraries with new literature.
The soldiers, due not only to their humiliated position, but also to mass illiteracy, at that time had nothing to do with the libraries of regiments and subunits. In turn, for the officers, the presence of libraries in the army was, in fact, a vital necessity. After all, most of the officer corps received an excellent education both at home and in military schools, and reading constantly and a lot was the rule for her.
By the second half of the 19th century, the development of a network of military libraries from an enthusiastic business becomes official, the military budget allocates funds to replenish the collections of libraries of officers' collections. In 1869, the Commission for the Organization of Military Libraries and Military Collections was created, which was responsible for regulating issues related to the creation and management of the military library system. At the same time, the rules for the replenishment of funds, the use of literature, and the deduction of certain amounts from the officer's salary for the replenishment of libraries are being streamlined. Since 1874, official financing from the military budget of libraries in the army's ground units begins. Of course, the funds allocated from the budget to support the activities of libraries have always remained meager and the officers, willy-nilly, still had to donate money from their own pockets to replenish the funds.
It is worth saying a few words about the military librarians of that time. Then it was not yet a separate specialty, but rather an honorable duty. The librarian of the regimental library was elected for a period of two years, at the same time being exempted from afternoon classes in companies. As for professional tasks, they were similar to the duties of a modern librarian - checking funds, compiling lists of literature for acquiring the library, monitoring fees and fines.
As a result of the temporary unification of the funds of several libraries of subdivisions, prototypes of modern garrison libraries appear. The development of military librarianship is also facilitated by the emergence of specialized military journals, which, on the one hand, regularly entered the funds of the subdivision libraries, and on the other hand, constantly published information about the state of librarianship in the garrisons and subdivisions.
Soldiers 'and sailors' libraries began to form. The military command is aware of the important role in raising the fighting and morale of the troops, not only of regimental priests, but also of propaganda literature. In addition, the requirements for the knowledge and skills of servicemen are increasing, and, accordingly, there is a need for their training with the help of special literature. By 1917, there were up to 600 libraries in the Russian army.
But the real flourishing of the military library system begins after the October Revolution. The Soviet government paid great attention not only to the military-scientific education of the officer corps, but also to the military and political training of the rank and file and junior command personnel, as a result of which the centralized formation of the library network in the army and navy units began. Already in the 1920s, the number of military libraries fluctuated within a few thousand, being optimized in the early 1930s. at around 2000 library institutions.
According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, by 1970 there were three military library centers in the USSR - the Military Department of the State Library of the USSR. IN AND. Lenin, Library of the Central House of the Soviet Army im. M. V. Frunze and the Central Naval Library. In addition to them, their own libraries existed at the district level - at the Houses of officers of districts and fleets, at military educational institutions, as well as in subdivisions. In total, over 90 million units of literature were in use by Soviet military libraries.
Of course, Soviet military libraries were to a greater extent an instrument of the party-political education of Soviet servicemen. In addition to special military literature, political and politicized literature prevailed, the task of which was to transform, during the years of military service, a drafted recruit into a devoted supporter of the Soviet regime and the Communist Party. Naturally, the activities of military libraries were in the competence of the political departments of subunits and formations, at the macro level - in the competence of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and the Navy.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the parallel crisis of the armed forces, accompanied by their reduction and weakening, entailed negative consequences for the military library system. The depoliticization of the Armed Forces, undertaken following the country's rejection of the communist ideology, was expressed not only in the elimination of political departments and military-political schools, the posts of deputy commanders for political work in the army and navy, but also in a weakening of attention to cultural and educational work.
Cultural and educational work was seen as part of political work and, accordingly, fell into disgrace with the new government. For some time, the military library system still existed by inertia, but decades of post-Soviet chaos did their job. Given the closed nature of the Russian military system, information about the real situation with the military library system in the Russian Federation is fragmentary. Naturally, in the context of all the vicissitudes that the RF Armed Forces had to experience in the post-Soviet period, the development of military library science leaves much to be desired.
Thus, according to the Izvestia newspaper, which published an article about the situation in the military library system two years ago, purchases of books for military libraries were stopped back in 2010. The number of military libraries in the subdivisions is also decreasing. This is understandable - the post of military librarian has been transferred to the category of civil servants, which implies negligible wages and the absence of numerous preferences for military personnel.
Of course, no one wants to go to work in military structures with their rigid schedule in the absence of normal wages or, at least, compensating benefits. Those military libraries that still retain their former face owe much to these direct unit commanders and their deputies, who, on their own initiative, are looking for opportunities to replenish funds and maintain libraries in working order.
On the other hand, the decline of the military library system is a reflection of the general decline of librarianship in contemporary Russia. Traditionally, on the list of state priority spending, the needs of cultural institutions were in the last place, and libraries among them were the "poorest relatives", since, unlike the same museums or theaters, most of them were deprived of the opportunity to recoup their activities. Since libraries are free, income from visiting them is excluded, leaving only minor payments for additional services that cannot be considered as determinative sources of funding.
The general cooling of the interest of the Russian society in the printed literature also affects. The Internet age has discouraged many young people not only from using libraries, but also from reading printed books. Indeed, does it make sense to go to the library if the information of interest can be found on the Internet? It would seem that in the current situation, the state should think about modernizing the library system, perhaps about a partial reorientation of the activities of libraries towards the provision of electronic library services.
In modern librarianship, according to the Russian librarian S. A. Basov, in fact, two main paradigms collide - technocratic and humanistic. The first assumes an emphasis on informational support of the reader's needs, improvement of service, that is, as they say, "keeping pace with the times." The second is more focused on understanding the library not as an information service, but as one of the components of the upbringing system. And if in relation to civil society the development of the information and service component appears to be expedient - students, scientists, engineers, writers themselves can understand the books and the task of the librarian in working with them is to a greater extent reduced only to consulting and technical assistance, then in relation to the army the situation looks completely different.
In the Armed Forces, a library is not an information service, but an element of education. Accordingly, the librarian is not a service staff, but one of the educators. It is quite possible that this understanding of a military librarian as a participant in the process of educating military personnel will help to take a fresh look at the specialty, it is not excluded - to slightly expand its duties and, at the same time, requirements, increasing the very status of a military librarian.
It is impossible not to understand that existence "on the brink" kills the already lame cultural and educational work. It is known that the problems of moral and ethical education, education and culture in the modern Russian army, due to its predominantly worker-peasant character, are very acute. Therefore, the reduction of military libraries, inattention to the issues of their provision, social support of employees is an unforgivable oversight, if not outright harm.
