Leningrad Military Library of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in 1921–1936

   The purpose of the article is to present the Leningrad Military Library of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (now the Information Historical and Scientific Center – Military Historical Library of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) – the main scientific library of the People’s Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSR – path of formation.

   The relevance of the topic is due to the significant role of military libraries in preserving historical memory as the most important area of ensuring national security and sustainable development of the Russian Federation.

   The methodological basis of the research contains principles of historicism, consistency, and objectivity. The methods used are source studies, comparative, biographical. Based on the analysis of the source base, most of which contained previously unpublished materials from the Russian State Military Archive, the main stages of the library development in 1921-1936 are established, its staff, main activities, sources and dynamics of replenishment investigated. Libraries of military educational institutions nationalized in the early years of Soviet power, personal libraries and some military libraries of the Russian Imperial Army that entered the library collections are exposed. The data about the library chiefs and their contribution into its work organization are added.

1. Vorontsova EA (comp.) (2016) The role of libraries in the information support of historical science. Moscow: Eterna. (In Russ.).

2. Bukreev AI and Zhabko ED (2023) Formation of digital resources on military history. Bibliografiya i knigovedenie 4: 5–19. (In Russ.). doi: 10.25281/2411-2305-2023-4-5-19

3. Zav’yalova LV (2023) Military-historical materials in the Presidential Library collection. IX Volkonskie chteniya, posvyashchennye 210-letiyu Voennoi istoricheskoi biblioteki General’nogo shtaba i 300-letiyu pobedy Rossii v Severnoi voine : materialy Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. (Sankt-Peterburg, 01–03 noyab. 2021 g.). Saint Petersburg, vol. 2, pp. 103–109. (In Russ.).

4. Zhabko ED (2023) Military-historical resources in the digital environment (using the example of the Presidential Library). X Volkonskie chteniya «Ot Ministerstva voennykh sukhoputnykh sil k Ministerstvu oborony Rossiiskoi Federatsii», posvyashchennye 220-letiyu Ministerstva oborony Rossiiskoi Federatsii : materialy Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. (Sankt-Peterburg, 07–09 noyab. 2022 g.). Saint Petersburg, pp. 412–417. (In Russ.).

5. (2022) The library as a resource for preserving the historical memory of the region : collection of abstr. based on materials of the II Rep. full-time and part-time sci.-pract. seminar with intern. participation (Gorlovka, Sept. 29, 2022). Gorlovka: Donets. gos. ped. un-t. (In Russ.).

6. Svichenskaya MK (2014) Materials on the history of the siege of Leningrad in the collections of the National Library of Russia : a review of virtual information resources. Zabveniyu ne podlezhit. Stat’i. Vospominaniya. Dokumenty. Saint Petersburg, iss. 10, pp. 218–237. (In Russ.).

7. Kryukov EV, Abashin VG, Simonenko VB and Dulin PA (2022) The history of the formation of the funds of the fundamental library of the Military Medical Academy. Klinicheskaya meditsina 100 (1): 74–80. (In Russ.). doi: 10.30629/0023-2149-2022-100-1-74-80

8. Novikova LI (2007) Naval libraries of Russia: the history of the formation and development of funds (XVIII – first quarter of XX centuries) : Cand. ped. sci. diss. abstr. Saint Petersburg. (In Russ.).

9. Panchenko AM and Timofeeva YuV (2020) Destinies of editions about the Russian-Japanese war in the collections of pre-revolutionary military libraries. Trudy GPNTB SO RAN 3: 11–27. (In Russ.). doi: 10.20913/2618-7515-2020-3-11-27

10. Panchenko AM (2012) From the history of the book collection of the House of Officers of the Novosibirsk Garrison. Devyatye Makushinskie chteniya : materialy nauch. konf. (Barnaul, 15–16 maya 2012 g.). Novosibirsk, pp. 127–132. (In Russ.).

11. Panchenko AM (2013) Military historical literature from the library of the Omsk Cadet Corps in the book collection of the House of Officers of the Novosibirsk Garrison (dedicated to the 200^th anniversary of the Omsk Cadet Corps and its library). Patrioticheskoe vospitanie v obrazovatel’nom uchrezhdenii: dostizheniya, problemy i perspektivy : obl. nauch.-metod. konf. (Novosibirsk, 21–22 noyab. 2013 g.). Novosibirsk, pp. 61–67. (In Russ.).

12. Koryakin MV (2005) Mass military library as an institution for the socialization of military personnel : Cand. ped. sci. diss. abstr. Moscow. (In Russ.).

13. Petrova NYu (2024) Library of the Auditorium of Military Affairs in 1918–1921: history of the foundation and development of the fund. Bibliotekovedenie 73 (3): 245–254. (In Russ.). doi: 10.25281/0869-608X-2024-73-3-245-254

14. Cherushev NS and Cherushev YuN (2012) The executed elite of the Red Army (army commanders of the 1^st and 2^nd ranks, corps commanders, division commanders and their equals), 1937–1941 : biogr. dict. Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, Megapolis. (In Russ.).

15. Bezlepkin NI and Smagin MA (2022) «War teaches people altruism...». The theoretical legacy of the military encyclopedist Major General V. A. Apushkin. Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal 12: 100–107. (In Russ.).

16. Tarkhova NS and Shabardin PM (comps) (2006) Reform in the Red Army. Documents and materials, 1923–1928. In 2 books. Bk. 2. Moscow, Saint Petersburg: Letnii sad. (In Russ.).

17. Petrova NYu (2024) G. A. Vereshchagin at the head of the Leningrad Military Library of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (on the 140^th anniversary of his birth). Trudy GPNTB SO RAN 3: 98–107. (In Russ.). doi: 10.20913/2618-7515-2024-3-98-107