The book is an amazing creation of people, and libraries are an integral part of the culture of every country. Sergeevich once correctly said that if the book depositories are properly organized, then culture can really be revived, even if educational institutions disappear. But not all people understand what libraries are for.

The Need for Libraries

In ancient times, libraries were repositories of manuscripts, and after ancient times they were transformed into public centers that were supposed to popularize knowledge. Russia saw them for the first time somewhere in the XI-XII centuries.

Today it is in this place that you can find completely different books from the desired field for work, study and just pleasure. So why do we need libraries?

The main purpose of book depositories is to organize the collection, preservation, and social use of books and other printed publications. Initially, libraries were needed for self-study and knowledge acquisition. Absolutely everyone needs them: preschoolers, schoolchildren, students, pensioners and scientists.

Scientists have proven that the human brain can contain more information than in America. However, mankind has not yet learned to use all the possibilities of the brain, and therefore book storage will not disappear and will be needed. Now everyone knows what libraries are for.

First Libraries

Even in ancient times, so-called libraries were formed in Asia. In Nippur, a unique collection of clay tablets (2500 BC) was found, which is called the primitive book depository. A little later, papyri were found in the pyramid of the pharaoh.

In the fourth century BC. in Hercules opened the first so-called open library Greece. In the third century BC. founded Alexandria which is deservedly considered the colossal center of ancient books. The library included astro-observatories, gardens of botany and zoology, rooms for living and reading books. And a little later it was turned into a museum, which was filled with stuffed animals, statues, supplies for medicine, as well as astronomy. It should be noted that such institutions were built at the sanctuaries. Are libraries needed? In those days, such a question was not asked. People skillfully recorded their knowledge in order to pass it on to future generations.

Valuable manuscripts

In the Middle Ages, workshops for copying manuscripts functioned in Russian monastic libraries. Church publications were often copied. The production of manuscripts was a very difficult and time-consuming process, and therefore the books were of the highest value. That is why they were chained in special vaults.

When publishing houses appeared, the life of libraries changed dramatically, because they ceased to act as archives. Funds of book depositories began to grow very quickly. They became most relevant when the period of mass addition to literacy began. Whether we need libraries in the 21st century is difficult to answer. Many prefer digital media, but without real books, they would not exist either.

Types of libraries

Libraries can be:

• national;
• regional;
• public;
• special;
• for the blind;
• university;
• school;
• family.

It is worth considering in more detail what libraries of each type are needed for.

The National Reading Rooms are designed to preserve and guarantee unhindered access to government printed publications. To replenish resources, some countries adhere to mandatory rules.

The regional library is a division of the above-mentioned institutions, which is necessary for residents living far from cities. It is worth noting that such book depositories also have every right to receive a mandatory sample.

In public libraries, users have the right to get acquainted with the most relevant and popular literature. Are Libraries Necessary in the Digital Age? This question has been asked repeatedly. But only thanks to libraries can the scientific and literary heritage of the whole world be preserved.

Special book depositories

Publications are kept in special libraries special purpose such as patents, government standards, or printed music. Often such reading rooms are created in connection with the need to save books in certain conditions.

The Library for the Blind allows the blind and visually impaired readers to access information. In such institutions, audiobooks and books that are written in a special font are stored. The State Library for the Blind is considered the largest in Russia, because in addition to books it has three-dimensional models, thanks to which the blind can get acquainted with the appearance of various objects.

Books are knowledge!

School and university libraries provide schoolchildren and students with literature. Their peculiarity is that they serve users of a narrow circle. However, you can find university reading rooms with free access. Do libraries have a future? This question was asked to modern students. The majority answered no - they prefer digital textbooks and audiobooks.

Not so long ago, a new round appeared in librarianship - a virtual library. Any user, having access to the Internet, has the ability to download any book from specialized sites. The younger generation leaves reviews in favor of electronic book depositories. But older people prefer "live" books.

Structured libraries

In book depositories, users have the opportunity to be served in two forms. In the first case, the reader purchases a subscription. Thanks to such a pass, you can get any edition for use for a specified period. Another form of service is the reading room: here the user will be able to read the desired publications exclusively in the library.

An important characteristic of the reading room is the structure of the fund. Part of the publications, which are the most relevant among readers, is often freely available, where the visitor has the opportunity to immediately familiarize themselves with them. All other editions are stored in the repository, and the reader can get them by choosing from the catalog.

Dilapidated rare editions, as well as those books in which importance may be stored, are issued only with a special permit.

You can also find mobile library units that facilitate the access of people from remote areas to books, as well as the Internet. This form of service is used by the disabled, as well as residents of nursing homes.

Today, libraries have been modernized, and their funds contain not only printed books, but also microfilms, transparencies, documents on electronic media. Not a single library can do without a computer, and therefore it will be in demand not only by the older generation, but also by modern schoolchildren and students.

Now you know what libraries are for and what you cannot do without them.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution

higher professional education

Far Eastern Federal University

School of Economics and Management

Department of Business Informatics and Economic and Mathematical Methods

ESSAY

in the discipline "Fundamentals of library and information business"

on the topic "Library: its emergence, development and social functions"

Completed by: student of group B1108L

Charkina E. YU

Checked by: Curly N.V.

Vladivostok 2013

Introduction

1 History of libraries

2 Characteristics of the social functions of libraries

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The history of library culture is part of the history and culture of a society. The oldest libraries in the world were the first clay catalogs of Sumerian literature, the library of Ashurbanipal, the library of the temple of Edfu in Egypt. In Athens, large private libraries were owned by Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Euclid, Euthydemus. The first public Greek library was founded in Athens by Pasistratus. The eighth wonder of the world - the Library of Alexandria - included more than 700 thousand scrolls of handwritten books.

The library, as one of the elements of society, performs certain functions in it, which are external to it. At the same time, it forms a system consisting of several elements, with its own functions, which act as internal in relation to it.

Despite the key position of the concept of "function" in the apparatus of science, in modern library science there is no generally accepted understanding of it, and the composition of the functions of libraries is defined differently. As a rule, functions are seen as a means of adapting a library to existing social conditions and in connection with this, different groups of functions are distinguished: main, basic, general, essential, immanent, ontological, genetic, initial, system-forming, external, specific, type-forming, historical, derivatives, applied, additional, auxiliary, private, technological and others.

The main distinguishing characteristic of social and technological functions is the scope of their distribution. Social - these are external functions that go beyond the library. They are formed under the influence of the needs of society, directly affect it and its individual members. Technological - these are internal functions that do not go beyond the library. They are a means for the library to carry out its social functions, are formed under their influence and ensure the implementation of the library's activities in accordance with applicable standards. Technological functions act as secondary in relation to social ones and serve for their implementation.

The purpose of this essay is to describe the history of the formation and development of the institution of libraries, as well as the social functions of the library.

1. History of libraries

Institutions such as libraries appeared in antiquity. The first of the found libraries was the library at the temple in the city of Nippur, it existed approximately in 2500. It contained a huge collection of clay tablets.

The first libraries existed directly as repositories of books, as well as community centers whose main task was education. During the early Middle Ages, libraries were often founded at cathedrals and monasteries. In the XIII - XIV centuries. the university culture is being actively formed, which subsequently had a significant impact on books and libraries in general. The monastic book was perceived as a treasury of spirituality and intellectuality, it becomes a tool of knowledge.

The oldest library that existed in the 18th - 17th centuries is known. BC. This is a box of papyri. The oldest library is the library that existed in the palace of the king of Assyria around the 7th century BC. BC e. It contained the richest collection of tablets with cuneiform writing. Basically, these were signs with information of a legal nature.

The Library of Alexandria, which had the status of a center of ancient literature and education, was founded by Ptolemy, who founded it in the 3rd century BC. BC e. The Alexandrian Book Depository was part of museum complex. In addition to the library, it also included canteens, living rooms, gardens of zoology and botany, reading rooms, and an observatory. Later, objects of medicine, astronomy, stuffed animals, as well as statues and busts used for education were added to the premises of the complex. There were about 200,000 papyri in the Temple, and about 700,000 documents at the School. Alexandrian book depositories in 270 AD. e. ceased to exist - they were destroyed.

At the monastery of St. Florian had approximately 30,000 editions of books. During the Middle Ages, such libraries at monasteries were centers of book learning. Here the works of the Fathers of the Church, sacred writings, as well as works of antiquity were copied.

In the Age of Enlightenment, many libraries appeared at universities in cities such as Paris, Bologna, Padua, Oxford. They collected a huge amount of literature on history, natural science, art. In the 18th century, books become accessible and open to society.

During the Renaissance, many figures looked for Latin and Greek texts preserved in monasteries. Manuscripts cost a lot of money, and in order to protect them, these books were tied to shelves with chains.

The advent of printing had a significant impact on libraries. Library funds have expanded significantly.

In the 20th century, the public library became the most accessible and popular type of library. In the USSR, the priority task of the library was to promote books, regulate and form the interests of readers. For the people, the library has become an important cultural component of life along with theaters and museums.

At present, the library collections contain 130 million titles of book editions.

2. Characteristics of the social functions of libraries

The library has always existed and does not exist by itself, it is an element of society with its own range of duties. The external functions of the library are its response to the needs of society, determined by the way it interacts with the external environment. As an artificially created system, the library realizes its social purpose through external functions, which is why they are most often called social.

In view of the foregoing, the social functions of the library can be defined as the social role that it performs as a social institution in relation to society.

The social functions of libraries are divided by most researchers into several groups. The first attempt to classify social functions in 1977 was made by I.M. Frumin, naming general and specific. Following him, Yu. N. Stolyarov singled out immanent, essential and others, V.R. Firsov - basic and subordinate, A. V. Sokolov - essential and applied, etc. E. T. Seliverstova even singled out four groups of social functions: main, type-forming, derivative and additional.

When studying the activities of any social institution, including libraries, it is legitimate to single out two interrelated aspects that characterize its essence and variability. In accordance with the first aspect, each social institution has an internal unchanging essence that allows it to perform a clearly defined role in society, regardless of the historical period, the socio-demographic structure of society, and the specific current tasks facing it. In view of the foregoing, the essence of the library is manifested in the collection and storage of socially significant documents in order to meet the information needs of users. This was and is the main goal of the activities of libraries, regardless of what country they are located in, what user groups they serve and what tasks the founders set for them. This allows us to consider that these social functions reflect the essence of the library and call them essential.

Consequently, the essential social functions of libraries are functions determined by the essence of the library as a social institution. Specified Functions The library has been performing since its inception. Noting this, A. V. Sokolov emphasizes that these functions are primary, initial and necessary. Changing the essential social functions would lead to the transformation of the library into another public institution, so they are stable, unchanged and limited in composition.

The second aspect is characterized by variability, since in the process of development society is constantly transforming: its ideology, morality, religion, political and social structure, the value system of society and its individual social groups. All this makes adjustments to the activities of libraries, puts forward new tasks for them, which, in turn, require changes in the internal organization of their work, clarification of the features of interaction with the external environment. The fulfillment of a public role associated with changes in the external environment is carried out by libraries through derivative social functions. These functions are connected with the desire of society to use the essential capabilities of libraries to solve current problems. Some of the derived functions appeared simultaneously with the essential functions, some arose in the process historical development. In connection with their derivation from essential ones, they are considered secondary.

Above, we indicated that the essential functions should include those that define the essence of the library as a special social institution, indicate what it was created and exists for, what distinguishes it from other institutions or unites it with related ones.

In the approach to the formation of the list of essential social functions of libraries, two trends are observed - some authors (I. M. Frumin, L. A. Shilov, A. N. Khropach and others) name as essential:

1) educational,

2) educational,

3) production functions,

others (Yu. N. Stolyarov, A. V. Sokolov, V. R. Firsov, E. T. Seliverstova, I. K. Dzherelievskaya, N. V. Zhadko):

1) cumulative,

2) memorial,

3) communicative.

Recently, library scientists have been actively searching for the only function that determines the essence of the library as a social institution. The main methodological principle of this approach is the assertion that all public institutions, spheres of human activity, cultural products, including libraries, have a strict and unambiguous specific function.

In the early 1990s, the information function was put forward as the only essential social function. Proponents of this view argue that "the unity of most current concepts of the social role of the library lies in the fact that, explicitly or implicitly, more or less attention is focused on the information function of the library" and that, "despite the internal inconsistency of the information approach to the analysis of prospects library development, it was he who became dominant. Proponents of the information approach associate the revision of the attitude towards the information function with the search for “the place and role of the library in the information sphere”, the prospects for integrating “the library with other information institutions in the information infrastructure of society”, “the transition from a restrained confrontation between the library community and the information sphere to the recognition of the importance of informatization libraries”, a creative understanding of the experience of foreign colleagues, which “could help us gradually prepare for the transformation into an information society with the lowest economic costs”. library book communicative educational

In 1990, the information function was recognized by V. V. Skvortsov as the only essential for the library, since "the essence of the substance with which the library operates is not a document, not a publication, but information." N. I. Tyulina adhered to the same point of view, according to which the information function “is inherent in the library as a social institution”: it “leaves the general list of library functions, no matter what criteria it is built on.”

Despite the widespread view of the information function as the main and only one, its content is interpreted in different ways: as informing the user about the documents available in the library or outside it; as an activity for analytical and synthetic processing of information; as providing users with conceptual and factual information. There is also a broader understanding, when all the processes associated with the movement of information in the library are presented as a single information function.

Along with information, widespread dissemination in recent times received also a communication approach. Its founder is Yu. N. Stolyarov, who in the early 1980s, based on the fact that “the social purpose of the library ... is to provide a spatio-temporal act of communication”, came to the conclusion that “the immanent social function of the library is communicative". In the future, this function, along with other essential social ones, was called V. R. Firsov, A. V. Sokolov, E. T. Seliverstova, I. K. Dzherelievskaya, M. S. Slobodyanik, N. V. Zhadko.

From our proposed definition of the “social function of a library”, taking into account the positions of scientists, it follows that the essential social functions are due to the public purpose of the library. Therefore, the essential functions should be those that ensure the collection, storage of documents and the satisfaction of user needs, that is, communication, cumulative and memorial.

The main goal of the library activity - to satisfy the information needs of users - is realized through communication between the document and the user, therefore it is reasonable to call this function a communication one. Performing it, the library acts as an organizer of the place and time of the meeting of documents produced at different times, by different authors and dispersed at different points in space, with users located in a specific space-time continuum. The main form of implementation of this function is the direct provision to the user for a certain time both in the library and outside it of the documents he needs. The communication function provides access to documents and their prompt receipt by all interested users.

The implementation of the communication function by the library is also associated with providing users with information about the document array. In accordance with the user's request, they can be limited by one or another framework: the place and time of production of documents, authorship, subject matter, purpose, storage location and other parameters. This activity is carried out through the use of various types of documents created both in the library and outside it: catalogs, file cabinets, bibliographic indexes, existing both on paper and on electronic media. The information obtained in this way is used in the future as an auxiliary one for continuing the search for the necessary documents and as the main one for conducting a bibliographic examination.

In accordance with the communication function, the library provides the user not only with the document itself or information about it, but also with the information that is directly necessary for him. The implementation of this type of activity is associated with a higher level of library service. In this case, the library assumes the obligation to provide the user not with documents containing the information he needs, as is the case in most cases, but, based on the study and analysis of their content, the end result is the information of interest to him. This work can be performed in the traditional mode, when the user receives the relevant information orally or in writing, or in electronic form, when the search in the information array is carried out using certain technical and software tools, and the user becomes the owner of the information he needs, often without even visiting libraries and not meeting with the librarian.

The library also performs a communication function when it organizes the process of communication directly between users, bypassing the process of creating documents. In this case, some users who are carriers of socially significant information also act as real or potential authors of documents.

This type of communication is carried out during various events (meetings, discussions, round tables, conferences, etc.) with the participation of scientists, writers, poets, politicians and other owners of information of interest to library users. These events, as a rule, combine oral communication with the use of various types of documents. They are typical for libraries of different types, but the forms of their implementation are varied and specific. Thus, in public libraries, these events are more often associated with acquaintance with artistic literary works and other types of art, meetings with writers, directors, composers, discussion of topical social issues with politicians, economists, lawyers, organization of free time for users.

In special, for example, scientific and technical libraries, such events are characterized by a highly specialized focus and most often take the form of presentations, meetings, round tables and discussions with the participation of scientists and specialists of a certain profile, carriers of scientific and technological ideas. Thanks to this activity, libraries can significantly shorten the path for users to access new ideas, that is, bypass the document stage.

Thus, the library performs the communication function by providing the user with a document, information about it, information contained in it, organizing oral communication between users and real or potential authors of documents or carriers of socially significant information. The criterion for the effectiveness of the library's communication function should be considered the organization of the most complete and prompt access of users to the documents they need. The ideal implementation of this function is to instantly provide the user with an exhaustive list of all the documents he needs.

To ensure communication between users and the documents they need, these documents must first be collected, which is the content of the cumulative function. Thanks to its implementation, the library collects in one place documents of different form and content, created at different times and at different points in space by different authors. For the implementation of this function, information about forthcoming and disseminated documents is of decisive importance, as well as the absence of various barriers, primarily political, for their free acquisition and the availability of the required resources from the library to replenish the collection. The ideal variant of the cumulative function should be considered as a collection in one place of all documents produced by mankind.

However, in order to fulfill its mission, it is not enough for the library to collect documents at one point in space; it is also necessary to ensure their distribution in time, which is achieved through the performance of a memorial function. Its essence is to preserve the totality of the collected documents in order to pass them on to future generations. The main difficulty in performing this function is associated with natural and social upheavals: floods, fires, earthquakes, revolutions, wars, as a result of which a number of documents are destroyed, which sometimes even leads to a break in continuity between eras and generations.

The implementation of the memorial function allows us to consider the library as the memory of mankind. Its ideal implementation means "remembering" everything that has been created by mankind, i.e. eternal storage of all documents collected in the library.

Communication, cumulative and memorial functions are in a dialectical relationship (Fig. 1).

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Fig.1. Relationship between essential social functions of the library

If the cumulative and communication functions ensure the movement of documents in space, that is, their concentration at one point in space and then dispersal among different categories of users, then the memorial function determines their movement in time, from the present to the future.

All three of these functions arose simultaneously with the emergence of the library, and without the fulfillment of any one of them, it cannot exist as a social institution. At the same time, the simultaneous performance of essential functions leads to the emergence of objective contradictions in the activities of libraries. These contradictions are clearly manifested, for example, between the cumulative and memorial functions. As already noted, the essence of the cumulative function is to collect various types of documents at one point in space, that is, the more documents are collected in the library, the more successfully it performs its cumulative function. The essence of the memorial function is to ensure the safety of all collected documents for as long as possible, preferably forever. The easier it is to achieve preservation, the fewer documents in the library. The constant increase in the volume of library collections as a result of their cumulative function leads to a shortage of storage space.

These contradictions can be removed by reducing the volume of the fund or increasing the area of ​​storage facilities. Reducing the physical volume of the collection is achieved by reducing the number of documents in the library's repositories, or by reducing the volume of the documents themselves.

The traditional way, tested for centuries, of removing the contradictions under consideration is to increase the volume of storage facilities through the construction and lease of new buildings and premises. At the same time, this is an extensive way to solve the problem, since the increasing volume of documents requires more and more new premises, the acquisition and operation of which requires large financial costs.

A more effective and promising way is to reduce the volume of the documents themselves. The reduction in the number of documents is achieved by determining the optimal completeness of the collection of the library fund, clearly fixing the topics and types of documents to be acquired, their number, and storage periods. A significant reduction in volume is also achieved through coordination and cooperation in the field of collections with other libraries in the region or industry. Achieving the absolute completeness of the fund, that is, the ideal fulfillment by the library as a social institution of a cumulative function, is possible only through the coordinated actions of libraries around the world, when each of them, collecting its own, strictly defined part of the documents, thus forms a whole - the information resource of the world library.

In order to reduce the physical volume of collections, libraries have also always sought to minimize the volume of documents. This is served both by the creation of new types of thin and at the same time durable types of paper, and by reducing the type. The best example in this aspect can be books - babies. In the second half of the XX century. this direction was actively developed due to the creation of new compact types of documents, first microfilms and microfiche, and a little later - electronic ones. Libraries seek both to acquire these documents instead of or in parallel with paper ones, and to transfer documents from traditional to new, more compact media. For example, the RLST fund, which includes mainly patents, standards, descriptions of inventions and other materials, consists of 80% of microforms. Despite financial difficulties, the number of electronic media in the collections of major libraries has increased dramatically over the past decade, and the amount of information they contain in some cases already exceeds that of paper media. The implementation of programs such as "Memory of the World" is also aimed at removing this contradiction.

No less complex are the contradictions between the memorial and communication functions. A high degree of safety of documents is ensured not only by the necessary storage conditions (appropriate temperature, humidity, light conditions, etc.), but also by the degree of use of documents. For the ideal fulfillment of the memorial function, the use of the fund, that is, the issuance of documents to users, should be stopped altogether. Indeed, in the process of use, documents are subjected to additional loads, their storage mode is violated, in addition, the document may be damaged or even lost, which reduces the memorial function to zero. In accordance with the communication function, on the contrary, it is important to achieve the most frequent use of documents.

In order to eliminate this contradiction, large libraries, primarily national ones, form insurance funds that are not subject to active use. One widely used option is for public libraries to purchase large quantities of copies of documents in high demand. In a number of libraries, especially special ones, copying of documents is actively used for the purpose of subsequent issuance of copies, rather than originals. An important step towards solving this problem is the acquisition of modern electronic documents, since they are compact in storage, easily archived to create insurance copies, and the activity of their use practically does not affect the long-term storage.

The interaction between communication and cumulative functions is not without contradictions. As already noted, the essence of the cumulative function is the concentration of documents at one point in space, and their re-dispersion, that is, issuance, is highly undesirable, since at this time the document may be needed by other users. In the interests of fulfilling the communication function, documents should be as close as possible geographically to users who have the right to have the required number of documents on hand. The removal of this contradiction is carried out by creating an extensive network of libraries of various profiles, organizing both direct and indirect user access to information resources, formulating requirements for the conditions for using documents. To eliminate the contradiction, large collections are created, different in form and content of documents collected at one point in space, which users can access regardless of their location at the time of the information need. Such collections, as a rule, are located in national, regional, leading university libraries. Their services can be used by all residents both directly and indirectly. The services of libraries are usually resorted to directly by users who are geographically closest to their location. The rest use them at a distance with the help of MBAs published by the library bibliographic aids, including printed catalogs, bibliographic indexes, lists of new acquisitions, abstracts, reviews and other publications that reveal both the library fund and the information flow by a certain parameter.

In addition, in order to remove the contradiction between the communication and cumulative functions of the library, they strive to bring the collections of documents as close as possible to the place of residence, work and leisure of readers. Library funds are formed in accordance with the information needs of potential users - residents of a certain locality or part of it, employees of an enterprise or organization, teachers and students of certain educational institutions, etc. The funds include several copies of one document title, which makes it possible to use one and the same document to many users at the same time. Libraries acquire modern electronic documents, which, if certain technical means are available, can be used by several visitors at the same time. This creates favorable conditions for communication between the user and the document.

In order to eliminate contradictions between the cumulative and memorial functions in each state, a network of libraries is being formed that meets the needs and capabilities of society.

Summing up what has been said, we note that the essential functions of libraries - communication, cumulative, memorial - cannot be subject to transformation, they are stable, even a change in the socio-economic formation cannot affect them. Remaining unchanged, they only deepen their content, improve under the influence of the changes taking place in society.

The essential functions are inherent in libraries of all types and types, however, they are implemented in different ways, which is manifested in the completeness of the collection, the terms of storage of documents, the circle of users and the conditions for their service. Thus, national libraries strive to form the fund with the greatest completeness. national documents and keep them as long as possible. Much less attention is paid to the direct service of users in the mode of issuing documents for temporary use than to the creation of a national bibliography, databases and data banks, and remote service. Small public libraries, on the other hand, focus on direct user service. Libraries of educational institutions in many countries, forming their funds, do not seek to acquire a wide range of various documents, but, on the contrary, are limited to a narrow range of educational publications, but acquire them in in large numbers. After the loss of relevance for the purposes of the educational process, these manuals are excluded from the fund and replaced by others.

The organization of the work of libraries, taking into account their specifics and features of essential functions, as well as ways to remove the contradictions that objectively arise between them, makes it possible to achieve a balance between their implementation, to avoid the occurrence of conflict situations. Understanding the objective nature of the contradictions that arise between the essential functions of libraries, and knowing how to minimize their negative consequences will contribute to the creation of a balanced system that takes into account the peculiarities of all these functions, the formation of an optimal unified network of libraries in the country.

As noted above, the essential functions are concretized in a large number of derivatives, due to specific socio-political and economic conditions, the current tasks that society sets for libraries. The list of derived social functions of libraries is not precisely defined. Most often, among them, experts name the following functions: to help education, self-education, upbringing, development of science and production, educational, hedonistic, ideological, cultural and educational, compensatory, medical, scientific and industrial, educational, pedagogical, cognitive, educational, recreational, educational.

Based on the main activities of modern libraries, in the process of implementing essential functions, in our opinion, the following main derived social functions can be distinguished:

1) promoting education and upbringing,

2) information support for scientific and production activities,

3) sociocultural.

Each of them can act as dominant over the others in a particular library.

The most studied is the group of functions that can conditionally be called pedagogical. Among them, the most frequently mentioned are educational, upbringing, training, enlightenment, to help education and self-education, and others.

The direction of activity connected with self-education has been further developed in public libraries and now consists in providing users with documents that contribute to the further development of their general educational and professional knowledge. This manifestation of the educational function of libraries is largely in contact with leisure activities, which are aimed at promoting the development of individual inclinations of users not related to their profession (the study foreign languages, technical modeling and design, cooking, cutting and sewing, gardening, horticulture, etc.).

The educational function is implemented by forming a fund of necessary documents and making them available to students and teachers, through various public events aimed at achieving educational goals.

A number of specialists devoted their work to studying the functions of libraries of this group. So, A. Ya. Aizenberg considers the educational and educational functions, along with the production - auxiliary, to the number of basic social ones. He sees the meaning of the educational function in the fact that "libraries, contributing to various types of education of readers, contribute to raising their cultural level, spiritual enrichment of a person, educating a scientific worldview, and strengthening cognitive interest." A. N. Khropach believes that the educational function lies in the complex educational impact on subscribers.

N. E. Dobrynina among the main functions includes educational, "the essence of which is the dissemination of knowledge." According to N. Dobrynina, the object of the library's educational activities is "the most diverse categories of readers, and in the center - a person with his free, and in no way limited interests." In her opinion, it is impossible to equate the educational and educational functions, "because the second involves the formation of a personality of a certain type, the instillation of certain ideas, the inculcation of the qualities necessary, from the point of view of the educator" and is associated with "discredited in our country the concept of "reading guidance".

Studying the interaction of library science with pedagogy, V. I. Tereshin repeatedly spoke out for the need to form library pedagogy as a scientific and practical discipline. In his opinion, the library is a pedagogical system, and therefore the pedagogical function is one of the fundamental for libraries. "The library, leading readers to the world of information (and information always acts as knowledge), to the heights of culture, to the socialization of the individual, performs a pedagogical function that covers almost all of its activities." The understanding of the pedagogical function of libraries as "leading" children and adults was formed in Soviet library science into the theory of reading guidance.

The essence of the activity of a modern library, with rare exceptions, is not in the direct implementation of the process of education and upbringing, but in promoting it as an auxiliary structure. Therefore, this function, in our opinion, is more appropriate to call the function of promoting education and upbringing. It is inherent in libraries of different types and types, however, they are implemented taking into account their own goals and objectives.

The next most frequently referred to by specialists is the function of promoting the development of science and industry. In the specialized literature, it is sometimes also referred to as follows: scientific and information, scientific and industrial, industrial, information support for science and production, ensuring scientific and technical progress, to help scientific and technical progress, to help vocational and industrial scientific work, production and auxiliary.

The task of promoting the development of science and individual industries was set before Soviet libraries in the period of industrialization and extended to libraries of all types. The purpose of this direction is to provide information scientific research, as well as various types of activities for the production of industrial goods, agricultural products, various services using documents containing the information necessary for this. Libraries do not directly carry out the production of any goods or services (except for the library itself), so this function should be called the function of information support for scientific and production activities. Libraries implement it by forming funds of documents that correspond to the goals and objectives of a particular type of activity, and making them available to certain categories of readers. This function is typical for all special scientific and technical libraries, the funds of which are usually very narrowly specialized, taking into account the needs of the field of activity of the enterprise and organization, of which they are structural divisions. University libraries perform this function by promoting the development of science, self-education and advanced training of certain categories of users.

For public libraries, it is less typical and is implemented along with others. Libraries of this type are currently carrying out this function by promoting the development of small and medium-sized businesses, the activities of small enterprises and organizations for which it is inappropriate to maintain their own libraries.

Often, including in official documents, the library is called a cultural institution, and among its main functions are cultural, cultural-educational, leisure, recreational and others. Since the library is a part of human culture and at the same time is one of the most important factors in its development, distribution, renewal and increment of cultural heritage, this function can be defined as a socio-cultural one. V. V. Skvortsov compares the library with a two-way street: “... in one direction, through the efforts of librarians, information about the existing achievements of culture comes to readers, and in the other direction, information about its newly created values ​​moves.” However, it should be noted that this movement is based on the fulfillment by the library of essential functions that ensure the collection, storage and distribution of documents containing information about the achievements of the culture of different peoples.

In this context, culture is understood in a narrow sense as a branch of activity for the creation and use of certain values, the implementation of this function by the library is carried out in two directions. The first of these is to provide the development of culture with the necessary documents and is typical for public and certain types of special libraries. Libraries of educational institutions, research and production institutions in the field of culture, as well as cultural institutions themselves (theaters, philharmonic societies, museums, etc.) serve the relevant specialists. The information obtained is the basis for their professional activities aimed at creating new cultural values, as well as training personnel, conducting scientific research, and producing material and technical means of culture. Public libraries, serving a wide range of users, provide them with materials on achievements in various areas of culture, especially fiction. different countries and peoples, which contribute to the education and self-education of various categories of users, amateur creativity, broadening their horizons, and the formation of a certain system of cultural values ​​among them.

In the Soviet period, the main function of libraries was the ideological function. All the activities of libraries were subordinated to its implementation, which was directed primarily to the promotion of “Marxism-Leninism, the politics and history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet state, the advantages of the socialist system and the Soviet way of life; assistance in the ideological and political ... education of Soviet citizens, the formation of their ... Marxist - Leninist worldview, ideological conviction.

After the liquidation of the CPSU as the only ruling party and with the beginning of the formation in the republics of the former Soviet Union of a multi-party system and the construction of a democratic state of law, in which all parties not prohibited by law have equal rights to propagate their views, libraries abandoned their ideological function. This played a positive role in the life of society and contributed to the democratization of the country's librarianship.

At the same time, one cannot but agree with the arguments of supporters of the ideological function that it was inherent in libraries of all eras. Libraries are part of society and reflect their era through the flow of documents. Library staff, as members of society, also occupy certain ideological positions. However, performing its essential functions, the library cannot give preference to one or another ideology, even if it is recognized as the most correct one at a certain period of time, and on this basis promote documents containing some ideological views and prohibit access to others, thereby limiting the rights readers who do not share the dominant point of view. A librarian is not entitled to use his official position to form a fund and organize user services in accordance with personal ideological preferences. Therefore, modern libraries should build work in this direction in accordance with constitutional norms and serve users with documents that reflect different party and worldview positions.

Depending on its type and type, a library, as a rule, implements several derivative functions simultaneously, but one of them acts as a dominant one. Thus, the libraries of educational institutions, to a much greater extent than others, are inherent in the function of promoting education and upbringing. Scientific and technical libraries of industrial enterprises and scientific institutions implement in their activities the function of information support for science and production. The cultural function is more characteristic of public libraries.

Derived functions are transformed in accordance with current tasks. Their implementation is based on the basis created in the course of execution by the library of essential functions.

Conclusion

Librarians and librarians-practitioners often designated and in some cases continue to designate the social functions of libraries with the help of such concepts as “the public role of the library”, “the social role of the library”, “the social mission of the library”, “the goal of the library”, “the tasks of the library”.

In Soviet library science, these functions were traditionally studied from the point of view of the influence of specific social tasks on the principles of its existence. Scientists sought to establish a measure of the dependence of library activities on social processes and, conversely, the possibility of the impact of the library on the state of society. In the 1970s - 1980s, ideological, cultural, educational and scientific information functions were officially recognized and most widely used. At the same time, in the same period, Yu. N. Stolyarov and A. V. Sokolov began to study social functions primarily from scientific, rather than ideological positions, which allowed them to formulate a fundamentally new list of them. At the present stage, library scientists have engaged in an active search for the only essential, ontological function of the library, which is called either informational (V. V. Skvortsov, N. I. Tyulina, M. I. Akilina), or document-communication (Yu. N. Stolyarov ).

Social functions refer to the role that the library plays in relation to society. They are differentiated into essential and derivative. Essential social functions are those that are determined by the essence of the library as a social institution, which consists in the distribution in space and time of socially significant documents in order to meet the information needs of society. Derivative social functions reflect the desire of society to use the essential capabilities of libraries to solve current problems.

Based on the public purpose of the library as a social institution, its essential functions are communication, cumulative and memorial. The essential social functions appeared simultaneously with the emergence of the library, and without the performance of any one of them, it cannot exist as a social institution. At the same time, the simultaneous performance of essential functions leads to the emergence of objective contradictions in the activities of libraries.

Based on the main activities of modern libraries in the process of implementing essential functions, the following main derivative social functions can be distinguished: promoting education and upbringing, information support for scientific and production activities and sociocultural. Depending on the type and type of the library, as a rule, it implements several derivative functions simultaneously, one of which acts as the dominant one.

The correct definition of the list and content of the functions of libraries in the information society will help to establish the main content, directions, forms and methods of library activity, free them from duties that are not typical for them, distinguish their activities from other related institutions, which will ultimately increase the efficiency and quality of their work.

Bibliography

1. Library science: general course: textbook. - M.: Book. Chamber, 2008. - S. 52-62.

2.Library studies: methodology and technique. - M.: Book, 2013. - 248 p.

3. Librarianship: terminology. words. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M. : RGB, 2007. - 168 p.

4. Bobyleva, NV Ways of constructing a methodological model of library science // Problems of Library Science, Bibliography Science, Book Science. - Chisinau, 2012. - S. 20-23.

5. Boikova O.F. Development of international cooperation in the field of bibliography // Bibliotekovedenie i bibliogr. abroad. 2009. Issue. 84. S. 58-70.

6. Vaneev, A. N. Studying and summarizing the experience of library work / A. N. Vaneev - L.: GPB, 2013. - 75 p.

7. Vaneev, A. N. On the "crisis" and "stagnation" in domestic library science // Bibliotekovedenie. - 2006. - No. 1. - S. 10-19.

8. Vaneev, A. N. Modern level and perspective problems of methodology and methods of library research // Problems of increasing the efficiency of scientific research in the libraries of Siberia and Far East. - Novosibirsk, 2004. - S. 30-48.

9. Kartashov, N. S. Generalization of the methodological and methodological experience of library science // Sov. library science. - 2008. - No. 3. - S. 108-110.

10. Kirpicheva, I. K. Information requests of specialists and their importance for improving library and bibliographic services / I. K. Kirpichova. - L. : GPB, 2007. - 2 p.

11. Kreidenko, V. S. Library research: scientific foundations: textbook. allowance / V. S. Kreydenko. - M.: Book, 2011. - 148 p.

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Introduction

Library, cultural, educational and scientific auxiliary institution organizing the public use of printed works. Libraries are engaged in the collection, storage and distribution of printed works to readers, as well as information and bibliographic work. In a broad sense, libraries are the memory of mankind and the most accessible cultural institutions for all categories of the population. Therefore, the topic of the control work is relevant, has great practical importance.

The object of research is the library.

The subject of the study is the emergence and development of the library, the main modern concepts of the library.

The purpose of the study: to determine the place and role of the library in the development of civilization and the cultural development of society.

On the way to the goal, the following tasks were solved:

-selection, analysis and evaluation of literary sources;

-selection of concepts reflecting the features of the development of libraries;

-formation of conclusions, conclusions, bibliographic list.

In the study of the problem, the following methods were used: observation, comprehension, generalization, comparison. The work was based on the works of: Gorbachevsky B. "People, books, libraries"; Egorova A. "The library of the city of Alexandria - the eighth wonder of the world" (New Library, 2001, No. 3); Tupchienko-Kadyrova L.G. "Library Informatization: Ways of Transformation" (Library Science, 2003, No. 1); “Regional Libraries of Russia in the Mirror of Numbers and Information 1998”, etc.

The structure of the control work consists of an introduction, three sections, four subsections.

The world history of libraries is shown on the example of the Library of Alexandria, the history of Russian libraries on the example of the Catherine's Library.

Modern concepts of the library are developed taking into account the peculiarities of the development of Russian libraries.

The third section is devoted to BGUNB and Gubkin Central Library Library as typical representatives of modern municipal libraries.

Thus, the problem of the development of libraries, the main modern concepts of the library, are considered on the basis of historical experience, theory and practice of modern library science.

1. Library: history of origin and development

The history of ancient libraries on the example of the Library of Alexandria

Libraries arose in ancient times. In the middle of the 7th century BC. at the palace of the Assyrian king Ashturbanipal in Nineveh there was big meeting clay tables. Of the ancient libraries, the most famous were the Library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy, and the library in Pergamon, founded in the 3rd century BC. BC. The Library of Alexandria was replenished over several centuries and went down in history as the largest book depository.

Egyptian officials took to the library all the Greek parchments imported into the country. Each ship that arrived in Alexandria, if it had literary works, had to either sell them to the library or provide them for copying. Library keepers copied every book they could get their hands on, hundreds of literate slaves toiled daily, copying and sorting thousands of scrolls.

Already by the first century BC. The Library of Alexandria contained up to 700,000 papyrus scrolls. Among them was a whole collection of works by philosophers and scientists from all over the world.

There are many legends about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. Those treasures that survived served as the basis for the development of the intellectual communities of the Islamic and Christian Middle Ages.

In Western Europe, during the early Middle Ages, libraries usually existed at large monasteries and temples.

During the Renaissance, the number of libraries increased. This is due to the development of culture and printing. At that time, libraries were a place of storage of rarities. Their activities were aimed at protecting books and manuscripts from visitors.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. in many countries there are libraries, which subsequently received nationwide, and some even world significance.

The European libraries of the 16th-17th centuries are associated with the names of talented scientists who devoted a lot of effort to their development. One of them is the Frenchman Gabriel Node (1600-1653). In 1627, Naudet published the book "Advice for the Arrangement of Libraries", which was widely distributed in Europe and served for a long time. table book librarians.

The process of the emergence of large national and university libraries continued into the 19th century. From the second half of XIX century, the organization of mass libraries begins. This is due to an increase in the need for skilled labor.

Thus, the Library of Alexandria is a classic example of the development of ancient libraries.

Libraries in Russia

The first known library in Ancient Russia was founded in 1037 by Yaroslav the Wise in Kyiv.

Basically, the funds of the monastic libraries consisted of books of religious content.

IN early XVIII in. in connection with the reforms of Peter the Great, libraries with collections of secular and scientific literature began to appear in Russia. In 1714, by order of Peter I, a large collection of books was created in St. Petersburg.

Later it was transferred to the Academy of Sciences. IN late XVIII in. paid public libraries are emerging…

By decree of the Empress, the National Library was created. The 18th century developed the tradition of collecting books, resulting in the idea of ​​creating a Public Library.

Private collections and book collections could not fully accelerate the formation of the Russian intelligentsia from the "enlightened nobles", help build up a layer of educated "statesmen", the need for which was felt more and more.

As conceived by Catherine II, the national library was supposed to personify the power of the Russian state.

Like the “model of the most distinguished public libraries” in Europe, which kept the archives of the national press and monuments of writing, the new library was to become a collector of all Russian books and manuscripts.

The National Library of Russia - and in this, according to A.N. Olenin, consisted in its "originality", - was conceived and organized not only as a book depository, but at the same time as a public, public library.

It set as its goal the public education of Russians. With its appearance, a new chapter opened in the history of science, culture and education in Russia. The public library became the second Russian university.

The construction of the public library took almost twenty years.

The fund was formed with the participation of Catherine II. By her order, a book collection Załuski brothers, which became the basis of the foreign fund of the Public Library. The public library was the first state library in Russia, which was set a goal - to create " complete collection Russian books. This meant all the books published from the very beginning of printing in Russia, as well as books published in Russian in foreign lands.

Thus, the need of ancient states for enlightenment and knowledge contributed to the accumulation of book collections at monasteries, church councils and spiritual educational institutions. In connection with the development of culture and printing, the number of libraries is increasing. In connection with the increase in the need for skilled labor, the organization of mass libraries begins.

. Basic modern library concepts

library municipal methodical scientific

Today the library is a well-oiled mechanism with dozens of subdivisions. The structure of the library can be divided into two divisions - technical services and reader services. Technical services are related to the internal activities of the library and provide such functions as acquisition and development of collections, cataloging and storage. Readers' services are engaged in reference activities and provide readers with access to funds.

The collections of modern libraries include manuscripts, books and other printed publications, various audiovisual materials (movies, records) and numerous types of electronic media (computer diskettes, CD-ROMs, video disks). In addition, a modern library connected to telecommunication networks has access to materials in other repositories.

Informatization of society puts forward new theoretical and practical problems for librarians. The library is a complex system of interaction between documentary, information material and technical resources and people. We will try to consider the information environment of the library in connection with the introduction of new information technologies. One of the main tasks of the informatization of society and libraries is the introduction of principles that would contribute to greater openness of information systems, the growth of the general cultural and spiritual potential of people. Equally important is the problem of accessibility of information. It is becoming increasingly relevant due to the fact that "today, even the largest libraries cannot satisfy the entire range of information needs with their own resources."

The complex of objects to which the library's activities are directed today has not only expanded, but also strengthened ties with them. These are connections between libraries of various levels and profiles and connections with other cultural institutions and organizations.

In the process of informatization, new requirements appear for both the librarian and the reader. The librarian must be able to handle the latest media, databases, remote resources.

In his last Address to the Federal Assembly, the President of Russia singled out libraries from the entire sphere of culture, saying that it was time "... to start modernizing Russian libraries."

At the moment, people need reliable, quickly received information, new practical knowledge. The society's need for this can only be met through public public libraries, since the library remains the only institution that provides access to culture and information free of charge. Currently, there is a stratification of libraries into relatively rich and relatively poor. For those who managed to find their place in the new economic conditions, for those who are already actively engaged in the modernization of their activities.

Rich, poor and even information-poor regions appeared on the map of the country. It turns out that the country is informationally divided. The gap in the level of service and access to information in different regions is increasing. The time has come when libraries cannot exist without reliable information.

Although the libraries themselves need to improve their material and technical condition. In strengthening personnel, in replenishing information resources. The library remained the only institution providing access to culture and information free of charge.

. Libraries of the Belgorod region

Regional Scientific Universal Library as a Methodological Center for Municipal Libraries of the Belgorod Region

The Belgorod region has a developed network of municipal public and specialized libraries. They are united in territorial centralized library systems. There are 24 such systems.

The work of municipal libraries is carried out in the conditions of regional library policy. At the regional and district levels, a program for the development of librarianship has been approved:

-acquisition of book funds;

-computerization of libraries;

-creation of model libraries in the countryside;

-improving the professional level of library specialists.

Adopted local Law "On legal deposit of documents in the Belgorod region" (1997)

In 2002, five model libraries were created. A model library is a library that has an optimal standard set of material and information resources and uses them effectively to provide quality services to the population.

Today public libraries can be considered as public centers of municipal, legal and social information. Almost all central libraries have legal and social information centers equipped with electronic databases "Consultant Plus".

The Belgorod State Scientific Library provides methodological assistance to the regional libraries. In the methodological work, the main attention is paid to the issues of organizing services, expanding the forms and methods of information and mass activities, introducing automated technologies in the central regional libraries, etc. The staff of the methodological department provides practical and consulting assistance to the libraries of the region in the form of meetings and seminars, schools of excellence, field trips field, preparation of methodological manuals.

In 1991, a department of automated control systems was created in the library. Currently, on the basis of AS "Library" databases have been created: "Electronic catalog", "Local history". The following databases are in operation: "Consultant", "Medicine", English-language encyclopedias, etc. A laser disk with a database of historical and artistic values ​​of the Belgorod Region has been created.

Thus, the library is a major information institution, a methodological center for the region's libraries. The basis for the development of innovative technologies.

CLS Gubkin: cultural traditions and innovative solutions

The CLS of Gubkin participates in the implementation of the spiritual and moral education of the population. Eight targeted programs have been developed and are being implemented at the Central Library System, including: “Russia: the time of choice”, “Ecology: the 21st century”, “Book and culture”, “History of the Fatherland: about the past for the present”, “Reading is a family affair”, etc. There are ten interest clubs; schools of ethics, law, communication; creative associations "Inspiration" and "Test of the pen". The technical base of the CBS was replenished with a new set of computer equipment with funds allocated by OJSC LGOK.

An information sector on childhood problems has been opened on the basis of the central children's library. Great importance has the study and preservation of the traditions of the region, which is the basis of local history work.

The CLS has 43 thematic card indexes, 128 bibliographic manuals have been published.

New information resources have been prepared. Work continued on the formation of its information resources.

The innovative activity of the CLS has been embodied in projects aimed at the implementation of practical assistance to readers in achieving their aesthetic, educational, and informational goals.

Thus, innovation formed the basis of educational methodological activity CBS; helped to identify new areas of work.

Conclusion

Completing test, draw conclusions.

The Library of Alexandria is a classic example of the development of ancient libraries.

The need of the ancient states for education and knowledge contributed to the accumulation of book collections. In connection with the development of culture and printing, the number of libraries is increasing. The organization of mass libraries begins, this is due to an increase in the need for a skilled workforce.

Although the libraries need to improve the material and technical condition. It remained the only institution providing access to culture and information free of charge.

BGUNB is a large information institution, a methodological center for the libraries of the region.

The Gubkin CLS is an information, cultural and educational center. Innovation formed the basis of the educational, methodological activities of the CLS; helped to identify new areas of work.

Bibliographic list

1.Library of the city of Alexandria - the eighth wonder of the world // New Library. - 2001. - No. 3. - S. 12-13.

2.Gorbachevsky, B. People, books, libraries / B. Gorbachevsky. - M., 1963. - 208 p.

.Municipal libraries of the Belgorod region in 2003: Analytical review / BGUNB. - Belgorod, 2004. - 99 p.

.Tupchienko-Kadyrova, L.G. Library Informatization: Ways of Transformation / L.G. Tupchienko-Kadyrova // Bibliotekovedenie. - 2003. - No. 1. - S. 40-46.

.By decree of the Empress, the Russian National Library was created, which is rightfully considered the second university in Russia // New Library. - 2001. - No. 2. - S. 6-9.

What does the word "library" mean?

A library (Greek, “a place for storing books”) is an institution that stores collected works of print and writing for public use, and reference and bibliographic work is also carried out there. Libraries are an integral part of the country and the nation, they reflect the human need for the accumulation and enhancement of knowledge, cultural and intellectual development.

What are the libraries?

Currently, there are different types of libraries: national, regional, public, special, as well as "educational" (university, institute and school).

When did the first libraries appear?

The first libraries appeared in the Ancient East. The most famous ancient Eastern library is the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh: it contains a collection of cuneiform tablets from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. One of the most famous ancient libraries is Alexandria: founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, in the Hellenistic world it was the center of education and science. There were about 750,000 scrolls in its funds. More than one and a half thousand years ago, it was destroyed: there are many versions of how this happened.

The most popular says that the library was burned during the capture of Alexandria by the Ottoman Turks. At the beginning of the 21st century, the unique book depository, which became a legend, was restored through the efforts of a number of countries. Now it's main library Egypt, a cultural center located on the Mediterranean coast in the city of Alexandria. The library is both a memorial to the Library of Alexandria, lost in antiquity, and a modern center of science and education.

In the monasteries in the Middle Ages, there were libraries in which scriptoria (workshops for copying manuscripts) operated. With the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century, the number of libraries began to increase, and in modern times, with the spread of literacy, the number of library visitors also increased.

What is the largest library in the world?

One of the largest libraries in the history of mankind is the Library of Congress in Washington. The library has more than 75 million titles, including books, photographs, records, musical compositions. The library opened in 1800 with a total book value of $5,000.

What is the largest library in Russia?

The largest library in Russia and the second largest library in the world (after the Library of Congress) is the Russian State Library (formerly the Lenin Library) in Moscow. It was created on the basis of the Rumyantsev Museum. In 2008 it celebrates its 180th anniversary. The volume of the library fund exceeds 42 million items. The total length of the bookshelves of the Russian State Library is about 275 kilometers

What is the largest electronic library in the world?

The largest digital library today is the World Digital Library. Its grand opening took place on April 21, 2009. The founder of this global project is the Library of Congress. The participants of the international project are national book depositories and archives of various countries, including Russia. Thanks to this unique library, millions of people around the world can get free access to cultural treasures and archives from around the world in seven languages, including Russian.

The most mysterious library in history is the legendary library of Ivan the Terrible, a collection of books and documents whose last owner was supposedly Ivan IV. According to one version, it was hidden by Grozny. Searches for the library have been going on for several centuries, but it has not yet been found. There is an assumption that the library is immured in the dungeons of the Kremlin.

The highest-altitude library is the space library aboard the Mir orbital complex, which has more than a hundred books - from the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky to the novels of I. Ilf and E. Petrov.

And you know that...

… one of the oldest printed books that has survived to this day, after restoration, is on public display in the British Library in London. The so-called "Diamond Sutra", containing a sacred Buddhist text, was created in May 868 by a certain Wong Zei.

... Abdul Kassim Ismail - the great vizier of Persia (10th century) was always next to his library. If he went somewhere, the library "followed" him. 117 thousand book volumes were transported by four hundred camels. Moreover, books (i.e. camels) were arranged in alphabetical order.

About books

The world's only stone book was discovered in Abkhazia. Its 20 stone pages depict biblical scenes.

Since the death of the French emperor Napoleon, more than 10 thousand books have already been written about him. It turns out that a new composition appears every week!

The very first newspaper in the world appeared more than two thousand years ago. It came out in Rome during the time of Julius Caesar and was called "Events of the Day." The newspaper published royal orders and announcements, but there was almost no news. The scribes made copies of the news leaflet, and the messengers delivered it free of charge to noble people living far from Rome. In Russia, the first newspaper was published in 1600. It was called "Chimes", which means "lead".

Italian Rio Coselli collects a collection of the most boring books in the world. It contains about 10,000 volumes. One Italian poet-loser, having learned that all his works are with Coselli, almost committed suicide.

Among the books that were written or conceived behind bars are "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan, "Prison Confession" by Oscar Wilde, "The Prince" by Nicolo Machiavelli.

The Rococo style, popular in the 18th century, also influenced printing. Publishers began to produce tiny editions of elegant books of various shapes: in the form of an oval, a flower, a heart ...

On average, a bookstore shopper spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover.

Half of all books sold today are bought by people over the age of 45.

The largest dictionary in the world is the German Dictionary, started by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1854. Work on the dictionary was continued by other authors, and the work was completed in 1971. The volume of the dictionary is 34519 pages, and it was published in 33 volumes!

most big encyclopedia in the world is the Universal Illustrated Euro-American Encyclopedia, with 105,000 pages. The annual supplement, which has been published since 1935, contains 165,200,000 words. In August 1983, the encyclopedia consisted of 104 volumes.

The twelve smallest books in the world fit in one tablespoon. Among them are a miniature edition of the Koran, a 12,000-word English dictionary, and the French Constitution.

One of the most unusual books in the world is Dante's Divine Comedy, written on a sheet of paper measuring 80 by 60 cm by the Benedictine monk Gabriel Celani. All 14,000 verses can be easily read with the naked eye, and if you look at the sheet from a distance, you see a colorful map of Italy. Chelani spent four years on this work.

The largest book in the world is in one of the Dutch museums in Amsterdam. This book is called "The Compilation of the Rules of the Sea". The height of the book is greater than the height of an average adult, the width is 1 meter, and the thickness is about half a meter.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of the city in Rio de Janeiro, they released a book made of ... stainless steel. 200 sheets of this book are rotated around a steel axis. And it weighs 3 tons!

From ancient times, the Great Chinese Encyclopedia has come down to us. Sorry, not all. Only 400 volumes have survived, there were 11095 in total. The table of contents alone occupied 60 books.

The longest artwork is the novel "People of Goodwill" by Louis Henri Jean Farigoule. It was published in 27 volumes from 1932-1946. The volume of the novel was 4959 pages, and there are approximately 2,070,000 words in it!

About reading

Napoleon read at a speed of two thousand words per minute.

Balzac read a novel of two hundred pages in half an hour.

M. Gorky read at a speed of four thousand words per minute.

N. A. Rubakin read 250 thousand books.

T. Edison read 2-3 lines at once, memorizing the text for almost pages due to maximum concentration. US research has shown that children who can read by third grade are less likely to go to jail, start using drugs, or drop out of school.

Adults who regularly read literature are more than 2.5 times more likely to do volunteer or charitable work and more than 1.5 times more likely to take part in sports activities.

Women buy 68% of all books.

Most readers lose interest in the book at page 18.

The first libraries appeared much earlier than the books themselves. All over the world, these temples of buildings served not only, and not so much as repositories of clay tablets, papyri and parchments, but also as real centers of cultural enlightenment. In the Islamic world, the largest library became home to the inventors of algebra and mathematics, Alexandria was considered the main intellectual asset of the Western world.

Ashurbanipal Library

The world's oldest known library was founded around the 7th century. The book-loving Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal collected most of his great collection during the conquest of Babylonia and other surrounding countries. Archaeologists discovered the library only in the middle of the 19th century, and now the remains of clay books are kept in the British Museum.

Library of Alexandria

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. control of Egypt was given to his former general Ptolemy I Soter. He sought to create a new intellectual center in the city of Alexandria. As a result, a real pearl of the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria, was built. On the shelves here were stored more than 500,000 papyrus scrolls - texts on history, jurisprudence, mathematics and science. Unfortunately, in 48 BC. Julius Caesar set fire to the harbor of Alexandria during the battle against the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy XIII and the library burned to the ground.

Library of Pergamon

The library of Pergamon was built in the 3rd century BC. the Attalid dynasty. According to the ancient chronicler Pliny the Elder, the Library of Pergamon had over 200,000 scrolls and rivaled the famous Library of Alexandria.

Libraries of the Trajan Forum

Around 112 BC. Emperor Trajan built a beautiful new forum in the center of Rome, where markets, vast squares and religious temples were located. In addition, the building of one of the most famous libraries of the Roman Empire was erected here. The book depository was divided into two sections: one contained works in Latin, the other was intended for work in Greek. The library has existed for over 300 years.

Library of Celsus

In general, in the heyday of the Roman Empire, there were about two dozen large libraries, and not all of them were located in the capital. Around 120 BC the son of the Roman consul Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemain completed the construction of the so-called memorial library in Ephesus (modern Turkey). The exquisite façade of the building can still be admired today. A marble staircase, columns and four statues representing Wisdom, Virtue, Intelligence and Knowledge have also been preserved.

Imperial Library of Constantinople

After the decline of the Western Roman Empire, classical Greek and Roman thought continued to flourish in Constantinople, the capital Byzantine Empire. The city's imperial library first appeared in the 4th century, under Constantine the Great. Already in the 5th century, the collection of books and parchment scrolls grew to 120,000 copies - the library grew until the crusader army in 1204 ravaged the city to the ground.

house of wisdom

The Iraqi city of Baghdad was once one of the world's intellectual and cultural centers. During the reign of the Abbasids, the great House of Wisdom was built here, filled with Persian, Indian and Greek manuscripts on mathematics, astronomy, science, medicine and philosophy. The library remained the intellectual nerve center of the entire Islamic world. Unfortunately, the invasion of the Mongols in 1258 led to the complete destruction of the unique repository of knowledge.