An important site for socialist construction. Malta: village of mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses Head of the village reading room
This December marks the 95th anniversary of librarianship in Gzhatsk. Epochs have changed, paper has practically given way to the tablet, but the spirit of the library as a treasury of the most interesting, unusual, and new has remained unchanged.
In a few days, the Central District Library in the city of Gagarin will celebrate its 95th anniversary. Similar anniversaries are now celebrated by other public libraries operating in small towns of our country, because in the late 1910s - early 1920s, the appearance of libraries and reading rooms in cities and villages became a truly mass phenomenon.
Soon after the October Revolution, V.I. Lenin noted the creation of libraries in all, even not very large, populated areas of the country as one of the most important tasks of the new government: “We must use the books that we have and begin to create an organized network of libraries that would help the people use every available one.” We have a book." Soon a decree was issued on a unified library network, and courses for library workers were opened to train personnel.
Mass eradication of illiteracy began. New professions appeared in the country - huts and booksellers, whose task was to promote new Soviet literature among the population. The huts no longer waited for visitors, they walked around the courtyards, went to field camps and logging sites, inviting people to evenings in the reading huts and convincing them that it was never too late to learn to read and write. And the reading huts, in turn, turned into a kind of rural clubs: they not only read books and newspapers, they had conversations, held lectures, read reports, they developed amateur artistic activities and even showed the first films.
In 1918, the head of the extracurricular subdepartment under the Gzhatsk Soviet of Deputies, D. Gorshkov, wrote in the newspaper “Izvestia of the Gzhatsk Council...” (No. 32):
“In order to raise the cultural level of the population, the extracurricular subdivision considers it necessary to implement the following activities. In the city - the creation of a central library and a free reading room with a selection of books that could satisfy, if possible, all residents of the city and county, from the ordinary peasant to the fully developed intellectual.
Despite the fact that the collected books contain a lot of valuable and useful materials, it still cannot be called a complete library. For example, the departments of politics, economics and agriculture are poorly represented in it. There is precisely what young social thought is so greedily looking for.
In addition, for the reading room, one constantly has to subscribe to newspapers and magazines, which the latter cannot do without, like a person without air.
The organization of a book warehouse and kiosks has broad propaganda and developmental significance. This is a necessary addition to the library, which can never satisfy the demands of the reading public throughout the county.
Books, newspapers and magazines will expand the political horizons of the population, give them a whole range of theoretical data on issues of applied knowledge and force all living and conscious forces in the county to take the path of social construction. The selection of books is made under the direct supervision of figures of the left social movement and the requests of the local population.”
The Gzhatsk district library was organized on December 15, 1919. Initially, it was located in a building on Herzen Street, but in the 20s and 30s it repeatedly moved from one premises to another, until it finally settled in the Tikhvin Church (complex of the Annunciation Cathedral).
Unfortunately, there is no reliable archival data on the history of libraries in the district, but from the meager sources we can conclude that in addition to the district library in Gzhatsk, libraries in those years also appeared in the villages of Prechistoye, Karmanovo and Tokarevo.
At the time of the opening of the district library, its collection consisted of only 2,331 books, but despite this, it quickly became the cultural center of Gzhatsk. In 1923, Nikolai Vasilyevich Shklomin was appointed head of the library. Despite the numerous difficulties of the first years of the formation of Soviet power, the lack of funds and the small variety of books published in the country, he managed to constantly increase the book stock. Nikolai Vasilyevich maintained contacts with libraries in Moscow, Leningrad and Smolensk. Literature was sent from these cities to Gzhatsk at his request. Thanks to the efforts of the director, by 1941 the library consisted of 20 thousand volumes. The number of readers grew by leaps and bounds.
After the start of the Great Patriotic War, library workers hid their main wealth - books - in the basement of the Tikhvin Church. Unfortunately, this did not help preserve them: during the years of occupation, some of the books were destroyed, others were stolen from home by Gzhatka residents. It took several years to restore the library after the end of the war. Books to replenish the book stock were then sent from distant regions, and private individuals also brought them.
Over the years of work as the head of the district library, Nikolai Shklomin was repeatedly awarded with diplomas. His name is included in the Book of Honor for Workers of Cultural and Educational Institutions. In 1952, he handed over the library to Yuri Alekseevich Sobolevsky, who, like his predecessor, did a lot for its development.
In 1963, the library’s book stock numbered 26 thousand books, and by 1975 their number had increased to 33 thousand. However, in the damp and cold building of the Tikhvin Church, books quickly became unusable, and employees had to work in fur coats and felt boots all year round. Naturally, in such conditions there was no question of holding any mass events. Only on the eve of its 70th anniversary in 1989, after two moves, the library celebrated a housewarming in the building on the central square of the city, where it is located to this day.
The rapid development of computer technology has posed new tasks for library workers, which they have successfully completed. Today, within its walls, play and developmental events are regularly held for children who willingly come to the “book house”, later becoming its regular visitors. There is an information center for youth audiences. Visitors of all ages come to meet writers and poets, musicians and artists. A club of Gagarin poets operates on the basis of the library. In the spirit of the times, the “Night at the Museum” event is held for the townspeople.
The library today, like 95 years ago, remains a cultural center visited by Gagarin residents of all ages - from preschoolers to retirees.
Evgeniy FEDORENKOV,
PHOTO - from the archive of the deputy director of the library Galina SHEKHVATOVA
Malta attracted special attention two years ago when a family of mammoths appeared at the entrance to an ancient village. Surprisingly, many residents of the Angara region did not even suspect that one of the largest sites of the Paleolithic era was located next to them. It all started with the fact that back in 1929, the peasant Savelyev decided to deepen the cellar at his home. During excavations, he discovered a huge old bone, which, however, did not impress him. He threw it over the fence, and the local boys immediately found a use for it, adapting it as a sleigh. However, the head of the village reading room took a closer look at the curiosity and reported it to Irkutsk. The famous archaeologist Mikhail Gerasimov immediately went to Malta and discovered an ancient site. This news stunned the entire scientific world. Such unique artifacts as miniature female figurines, Venuses, a child’s burial with rich grave goods, and a bead made from a mineral called “tiger’s eye” were recovered from the bowels of the Malta soil.
The church collapsed in silence
The beautiful large village of Malta is divided into two parts - the right and left banks of the Belaya River. The right side is more modern. It was formed after the railroad was built. All socially significant objects are located here: the local administration, a school, the House of Culture, the Maltinskoye mineral water production enterprise and the remains of a sanatorium that once thundered throughout the region.
But the left side is a real historical treasury. Along the main street - Lenin - stretches the former Moscow Highway, along which convicts and military personnel moved several centuries ago. During the journey, they made a short stop in Malta: they rested and changed horses. The Malta residents recreated this episode from the history of the village on one of the village holidays. Dressed in rags and tatters, they depicted how convicts moved along the Moscow Highway.
On the corner of the street there still stands a two-story old house in which there was a hotel near the tract. According to residents, Anton Chekhov once stayed there. Then, many years later, the building was equipped as a maternity hospital.
It is known that not all convicts survived the long journey. Martyrs often found their final refuge here. They were buried without a funeral service, and it was for this reason that the residents decided to build a church in the village. They sent a petition to Emperor Alexander I and, without waiting for an answer, began collecting money.
Initially, it was decided to build a two-aisle temple, but over time the plans changed, and as a result, a large three-aisle temple was erected. The main chapel is in the name of the Ascension of the Lord, the second is in the name of the Kazan Mother of God, and the third is in the name of St. Innocent. The temple was built conscientiously. Large antique bricks made from local clay were used for its construction. In order for them to hold tighter, a huge amount of eggs was added to the solution. Residents themselves carried them from their yards. Everyone wanted to contribute to a good cause.
In 1810, two smaller chapels were consecrated, and the turn of the main one came only 23 years later, as there were difficulties with money. A parochial school was also opened near the church. 10 people were the first to graduate. Moreover, according to the recollections of old-timers, there were more boys than girls at that time. The temple served in its original form until the revolution.
During the Civil War of 1918, it was used for zeroing artillery pieces by both the Red and White. The church was shelled from all sides. In February 2020, when Malta was under martial law, the Reds fired back from the Kappelites from the bell tower.
In 1933 the temple was closed. Part of the premises was fenced off and equipped for storage, and the church territory was given over to sports grounds and buildings. For some time, there was a brick factory office on the second floor of the temple, then it was given over to a club. Workers of Malta culture showed films and organized dances. Here the population gathered for gatherings. During the time when the temple was not used for its intended purpose, it was gradually dismantled for needs. Since the brick was of very good quality, in the 30s and 40s the military took it to the barracks.
The last one to temporarily find refuge in the church was a general store. True, he did not work for long, and after the building was empty, it began to collapse. During the 2009 earthquake, most of the walls of the temple crumbled, and two years later only ruins remained.
It was very calm and quiet that day. At about 17.30 they heard a terrible crash and the temple collapsed. On my own. Apparently, his time has come. No one went there or looked there anymore,” says Galina Kolomiets, curator of the school’s local history museum. - It's a pity, of course, the church. Architectural monument. Maybe someday a new temple will be built in its place. After all, this place is prayed for, holy.
Venuses, beads and ancient burials
Malta is also home to the world-famous site of ancient man. The story of how a local resident dug up a mammoth bone has long turned into a legend that the older generation tells to the younger ones. For several decades, expeditions visited here every season. From the ground, archaeologists recovered the bones of a mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, deer antlers, tools of primitive people, jewelry and household items.
This ancient monument has attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists and archaeologists from all over the world. Everyone wanted to take a closer look at the unique artifacts. Scientists have found that on the site of Malta 21-23 thousand years ago there was a tundra through which herds of mammoths, rhinoceroses and bison roamed. Their meat served as food for primitive people, and dwellings were built from skins and bones.
In 1958, Mikhail Gerasimov, who was the first to study Malta culture, was replaced by his student, professor and archaeologist German Medvedev. He also unearthed many amazing items. Among them, for example, are small figurines of women. Their lips were clearly cut out, their nostrils were profiled, and their miniature chins stood out. There were 30 such figures, named Venus. Another find is an ancient bead made from the tiger's eye mineral. What is noteworthy about it is that until now this mineral was found only in India and Southern Afghanistan.
In Malta, they discovered the only burial of a child in the region with rich decoration: beads and pendants made of mammoth ivory, fragments of an image of a flying bird, flint products and a bracelet.
They burned bonfires and sang with a guitar
Archaeological research also aroused genuine interest among local residents. The children often visited expedition members and watched how they worked.
Previously, there was even a sign “Site of an ancient man.” Outsiders were prohibited from entering there. But in my youth we often ran there. In the 80s, archaeologists set up a tent city and worked here for the entire season, three to four months. Mostly students and young people came from Irkutsk, they lit fires and played the guitar. And we joined them,” recalls Dinara Salikhovna, a resident of Malta.
From the first grade, young “archaeologists” trodden a path here. They were interested in the whole process of work: how the first layer of earth is removed, working with scrapers and brushes, removing products, taking measurements and photographing artifacts.
It's impossible to describe. Need to see. I have never seen such meticulous work; every millimeter of the earth is examined. Archaeologists are sensitive to every discovered exhibit. Handle them very carefully so as not to cause damage.
True, there is one significant drawback to this Malta attraction. Since the entire village is essentially an archaeological heritage zone, any construction or excavation work is prohibited here. And this is a very big problem for residents. In order to obtain permission to build any object, even a small barn or bathhouse, they need to go through many authorities. Those who simply want to take land for a vegetable garden are subject to the same procedure. Some of the Maltese tried to prevent this “disgrace” and erected buildings without permission. However, the supervisory authorities, having learned about the violation, immediately came and punished the culprit with a ruble.
Mammoth and dentist
In the early 2000s, due to lack of funding, excavations stopped, and only two or three years ago they continued again. In 2014, archaeologists from Irkutsk State University discovered the remains of a baby mammoth on the river bank. First, they came across a tooth of an animal that was hiding just under the turf, then, digging deeper, they found the rest of the remains: fragments of the skull, leg bones, ribs. All of them were located in an ancient frost crack, on an area of about one and a half meters. The age of the deposits was approximately 25 thousand years.
According to the assumptions of Dmitry Lokhov, a research engineer at the Department of Archaeology, Ethnology and History of the Ancient World, it is possible that the baby mammoth became the prey of an ancient man. He was separated from the herd and driven into a trap. This can be judged by the appearance and location of the remains. Archaeologists found chopped leg bones and a skull. The teeth lay separately. The ribs were also chopped and piled together.
In 2015, research work in Malta began later, at the beginning of September.
Excavations were carried out right along the fences, along the entire length of Proizvodstvenny Lane. They dug about three meters deep, and on top everything was under film,” says Dinara. - This time we accommodated the expedition members in the House of Culture, heated the bathhouse, and gave them tea. Work continued until mid-November. When it was cold they lit the stove. While the excavations were going on, a temporary bypass road was built for residents. After the work was completed, the alley was restored to its original appearance. We don’t know what archaeologists discovered, we only know that there were many elements of animal bones.
On Beregovaya Street, along which excavations have been carried out for many years, none of the former residents remain. The elderly died, the young left. The new residents only know that this is the site of an ancient man’s site. True, sometimes someone finds interesting fragments. So, last year, after a heavy rain, Natalya Burlakova, going down to the shore, accidentally
stumbled upon an object of an unusual shape. At first she thought it was a stone, but after looking closely, she decided that it looked more like a tooth. Experts confirmed her guesses. She donated her find to the school museum. It is noteworthy that she found the tooth not on the left bank, where the parking lot is located, but on the right. How he got there remains a mystery. At least, Galina Kolomiets jokingly tells the children at school that the mammoth went to the dentist.
Another exhibit of the school local history museum is a huge vertebra. Fishermen caught him in the river. For a long time they didn’t know where to put it, and then they decided to take it to the museum. The jawbone of an unknown animal, a bone from the thigh of a woolly rhinoceros and a copy of Venus, which was donated to the museum by professor from Germany Nana Nauwald, are also kept here.
Cucumbers are pickled using spring water
The site of an ancient man is not the only attraction of Malta. Who doesn’t know the bottled mineral water of the same name? It is being implemented throughout the Irkutsk region and beyond. The source is privately owned. One entrepreneur took a plot of land, drilled a well on it and started a profitable business. Residents of Malta and all unauthorized persons are prohibited from entering there, but they don’t need it. They have their own source. Anyone can come and draw some spring water for themselves. It tastes slightly salted. As the Maltinians assure, it contains many useful substances. It is usually treated for the gastrointestinal tract. To do this, you need to drink 100 grams of water in the morning and evening. Housewives use this water to make good pickles. Lightly salted cucumbers are especially successful. There is a chapel next to the source.
The Maltinsky sanatorium, another pride of the village, has long since sunk into oblivion. In his golden years, people came here on vacation from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Buryatia, Chita Region, and Yakutia. The sanatorium served up to 1000 people per season. People were attracted by the local beauty and healing mud that was extracted from the Popovsky Lakes. They helped with diseases of the joints and musculoskeletal system. There is mud even today, only the Usolsky hospitals use it.
Now all that remains of the former holiday home is a sign at the entrance to the village and two buildings - an office and a dining room. Other buildings either burned down or were dismantled for needs. A few years ago, these two buildings also turned into ordinary residential buildings. The district administration plans to create an open-air museum on the territory of the former holiday home. True, no one knows when the desired will come true.
Selfie on a mammoth
The only attraction that has appeared here recently is a family of mammoths. The opening of the monument was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Usolsky district. First, a mother and a baby mammoth appeared on the open area in front of Malta, and later the father joined them. The sculptural composition was made by the famous master from Telma, Ivan Zuev.
I immediately decided that it would be a little mammoth pulling its mother out of the icy water. On the one hand, this is salvation, on the other, awakening. The baby mammoth symbolizes our young generation, which is trying to extract information about the past from the depths of centuries. What we have already forgotten. I wish people would remember this. Many simply do not know what unique treasures are stored in the depths of this village,” noted Ivan Zuev.
The technology for making the sculpture is identical to that used to create the statue “The Motherland Calls” in Volgograd. In addition, a special bronzing technique was used. This creation is guaranteed for 50 years. As soon as a mammoth family settles in the countryside, cars drive towards it in an endless stream. People take photos and selfies against the backdrop of ancient animals, and someone tries to climb onto the back of a baby mammoth.
Tourists are attracted by the cellar
Malta children are still trying to find unique artifacts today. They take all their finds to the local history museum. Every year there is a competition for the most interesting ancient exhibit. Schoolchildren bring antique utensils and household items. However, today even such devices as a home landline telephone, radio, and tape recorder have historical value for them. The Angarsk geological expedition, based in Malta, donated a set of stones to the museum, and a local watchmaker brought many interesting watch mechanisms. Among his gifts is a ship's clock that keeps time with the precision of the Kremlin clock.
The pride of the school is the school theater “Voice”, which next year will celebrate its 30th anniversary. The theater's repertoire is impressive. Among the productions: “Juno and Avos”, “The Master and Margarita”, “12 Chairs” and much more. The actors are both children and the entire teaching staff. Regional theater festivals and master classes are also held here.
In general, according to residents, they have a good, calm village. Every summer Malta is visited by groups of tourists. Everyone is interested in seeing the place where mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses lived many thousands of years ago. They are especially attracted to the house in whose cellar the first artifacts were dug up. True, the tenants there have long since changed and strangers are not allowed onto their property. And there’s nothing to see there anymore - everything is overgrown with grass and beds. The regional authorities have long had an idea to organize a tourist route around Malta’s archaeological heritage sites. All that remains is to bring this idea to life.
Photo by Sergei Ignatenko
Chapter V. Cultural and mass work of the Komsomol in the village
Komsomol members - organizers of youth leisure
Collective farm youth, who know how to work hard, persistently, selflessly to help the front, love to sing a good song, listen to music, exchange a funny joke, and dance in their free time. Young people have a great desire for knowledge - to study history, geography, literature, technology.
War leaves little time for rest, but this time must be used wisely. Well-spent minutes of rest provide energy for many hours of work.
Komsomol members must act as leaders of youth not only in work, but also in organizing the education and leisure of youth.
Mass cultural work is based on the broad initiative of the masses and should meet the most diverse interests of young people.
An exciting lecture, a friendly meeting, a conversation, a literary or military evening, an amateur performance show, reading aloud the best works of classical and Soviet literature, excursions, a collective visit to the cinema, discussion of books, films, performances, drama, choral and music clubs, folk dance clubs and much, much more - all these interesting and entertaining types of cultural work should find their place in the work of Komsomol organizations of collective and state farms. They open up inexhaustible opportunities for instilling in young people a feeling of ardent love for their homeland and pride in the great, immortal culture of our people.
The Soviet state, caring for the cultural development of the working people, even during the war allocates tens and hundreds of millions of rubles for the needs of political and educational institutions. A reading hut is created on the territory of each village council, funds are allocated for its operation, and a special employee is allocated - the manager of the reading hut, hut.
The reading hut is the center of the cultural life of the village. This is at the same time a military propaganda post, a club, and a reading room. This is the most important center of mass work with youth. The social life of the village is concentrated here. A good reading hut is always crowded. Both young and old come here to catch up: to read the latest newspaper, consult with a knowledgeable person, talk about what is happening at the front, talk about collective farm affairs.
Here you can listen to an interesting report on current events, meet a hero of the Patriotic War, or join an interesting club.
Therefore, rural Komsomol members should strive in every possible way to improve the work of their reading room.
How should the work of the reading hut be organized and what can Komsomol members do for this?
First of all, each reading hut must be equipped, landscaped, and given a cozy and cultural appearance. No one will go to a neglected reading hut, which is dirty, uncomfortable, not heated, and has no fresh newspapers and books.
It’s another matter if the reading hut is in good, caring hands. The work of such a hut-reading room in the Novo-Shchapovsky village council of the Klinsky district of the Moscow region tells about the work of the hut comrade. Clerks:
“When evening falls, a line of people flocks to our hut-reading room, as if to a cozy home. Both old and young come here: to read, listen to a conversation, and relax.
A clean painted floor, wallpapered walls, white curtains on the windows, portraits of leaders, a geographical map, colorfully decorated display cases, photo newspapers, battle slogans, illustrated montages, flowers on the tables - this is the interior appearance of our reading hut.
The walls inside the building are well decorated. Here you will see a board of honor, a slogan calling for hard work, or a montage “How did you help the front today?”, where a collective farmer will read the names of his neighbors who donated warm clothes, money, and food to the Red Army relief fund. They seem to visually agitate and convince visitors that their work is a contribution to the great cause of the fight against the German invaders, that victory depends on the perseverance, endurance and selfless work of every patriot.
There are several circles working at the reading hut, there is a choir that has learned many Russian folk songs, and a drama club has been created.”
In order to develop truly mass cultural work in the countryside, Komsomol members must first of all put their hut-reading room in order: repair it, repair tables, benches, stools, decorate the walls with new posters and slogans, and equip, if the space allows, a stage.
When Komsomol member Raya Yagafarova took over the reading hut in the village of Tatarskie Vyselki, it was cold and deserted: bare, torn walls, a destroyed stage. There are two or three old brochures on the bookshelf. From the very first days, Yagafarova was convinced that it would be difficult to put the reading hut in order alone. First of all, it was necessary to create an asset. Komsomol members came to Yagafarova’s aid. The first thing they did was organize a collection of books, and soon a library containing up to 3 thousand books appeared in the reading hut. With the help of Komsomol members, Yagafarova tidied up the premises and decorated it. Now the reading hut has become a favorite vacation spot for young people.
How to organize work in a hut-reading room
The reading hut is primarily a center of political information for the population. Collective farmers, our youth, are following with the greatest interest the situation on the fronts of the Patriotic War, events in our country and in international life. To satisfy these requests, to give an answer to exciting topics, to be at the level of increased political activity of the masses is the direct duty and responsibility of the hut.
Komsomol members can help many people in organizing political information. The best Komsomol agitators should be on duty in the reading room to conduct conversations, to answer incomprehensible questions to collective farmers, to clarify important military and government messages. 
Rural teachers and high school students can provide great assistance in organizing political information. The teacher has an honorable role in the reading hut. He can conduct a conversation, lead a circle, and explain an unclear question. Teachers and camp workers can make a homemade geographical map for the reading hut and use flags to mark the places where hostilities are taking place. The teacher can help readers, talkers, and agitators.
Of course, one cannot limit oneself to conversations and reading newspapers. Rural youth will listen with great interest to the stories of soldiers who returned from the front, learn courage and bravery from front-line soldiers, and learn to hate the enemy.
Reading letters from fellow countrymen from the front is an important, interesting, exciting thing. It can be well organized by Komsomol members. To do this, it is necessary to widely use vivid letters from the front published in Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Reading and discussing such letters among young people is a great event. It will make every young man and girl think about the purpose of life, will arouse a passionate desire to be like the heroes of the Patriotic War.
In many reading huts, Komsomol members arrange artistically designed display cases “Letters from relatives and fellow countrymen from the active army,” as well as exhibitions of portraits of fellow countrymen - heroes of the Patriotic War. Komsomol members take out photographs of their fellow countrymen who distinguished themselves at the fronts, or cut out their photographs from newspapers and magazines; if they have their own artists, they draw them. Under the portraits there is a brief description of the feat of the fellow countryman. Instead of a signature, you can place a clipping and a letter received from the front.
Visual propaganda occupies a significant place in the cultural work of the reading room.
Similar to an exhibition of portraits of heroes, you can arrange various photomontages from magazine and newspaper photographs, write or redraw “TASS windows”, etc.
Such montages and posters are easy and simple to make. You can successfully involve local self-taught artists, especially high school students, in working on them.
Librarians and teachers have extensive experience in creating such homemade posters. They will help you select material, make clippings from newspapers and magazines, and tell you how best to arrange them.
The youth of the Soviet village loves and respects a good book. There is always a great demand for such a book.
The Komsomol organization cannot limit itself to only creating or strengthening the local rural library - it is also necessary to bring the book to young people. A good way to educate young people to love books is to collectively read works of fiction and discuss them. In each organization there are several well-literate Komsomol members who will help the izbach organize collective reading. Teachers will advise which book should be read aloud and will tell the reader how best to read it. There is no need to strive to read a book in one evening. A large work can be divided into several evenings, and then listeners will look forward to the next meeting with the characters of the book.
In many reading huts, literary evenings are held, the participants of which discuss a work that everyone has read in advance. It’s good to spend such a literary evening with a discussion of the best examples of classical and Soviet literature. You need to prepare for such an evening in advance. Youth should be widely informed about what work will be discussed, prepare a comrade who will give an opening speech, and organize a preliminary reading of this work.
We rarely have discussions about films. But movie heroes are often the favorite heroes of young people.
The more inventive the Komsomol members are when organizing such evenings, the more interesting, lively, and exciting they will be, the greater the mark they will leave in the memory of each participant.
The needs of our youth are wide and varied. It would be good to organize conversations and lectures on topics about military affairs, various types of weapons, historical topics, geography, astronomy, various natural phenomena, plant and animal life, sanitation and hygiene.
Lectures and conversations on agrotechnical topics should occupy a special place. They can be successfully carried out by an agronomist or livestock specialist if Komsomol members approach him with a request. Now that young people have become a decisive force in agriculture, our task is to constantly help them acquire agrotechnical knowledge and train new personnel for the collective farm. In some reading huts, interesting evening meetings are organized between old masters of collective farm fields and young people. At such evenings, old and young collective farmers exchange experiences: young people learn from old, experienced workers of the land the skill of obtaining high yields. Such evenings are very popular in the village and bring undoubted benefits.
In the current conditions, the reference work of the reading room has acquired great importance. In connection with the war, collective farmers are faced with many new, very diverse questions that directly affect the vital interests of young people. For example, the question of benefits for the families of military personnel, the procedure for paying pensions to war invalids, how to find relatives who went to the army, etc. Some reading huts, with the help of Komsomol members, did a good job of conducting such reference work. Head of the Serpey hut-reading room, Meshchovsky district, Smolensk region, comrade. A. Fatova tells how, after restoring the reading hut, destroyed by fascist robbers, she organized an information desk:
“When I posted an announcement that the help desk had started working, people willingly came to me for information, asking me to write a letter or statement. Komsomol members helped me in many ways. In my absence, they were on duty, issued certificates, and wrote letters to the front at the request of collective farmers.”
Reference work increases the authority of the reading room, strengthens the connection between the reading room and the Komsomol members working in it with the collective farmers.
At first, mainly the wives of those mobilized into the Red Army came to the Vershnikovsky hut-reading room in the Gorky region for certificates, asking them to write a letter, an application, and obtain benefits. Izbach and his activists helped in all these matters. Now people come here on a wide variety of issues: agricultural technology, medicine, pedagogical, legal and many other issues. The number of certificates issued by the reading room is constantly growing.
Various clubs organized by Komsomol members at the reading hut help to involve young people in the social life of the collective farm and in active Komsomol work.
Amateur artistic circles - drama, choral, song and dance, music - became especially widespread in the village. Who, if not the Komsomol organization, should initiate the creation of such circles and direct their activities?
The first thing that Komsomol members should undertake when creating amateur circles is to identify and unite everyone who wants to participate in such circles. However, you should not be alarmed if there are too many applicants at first. In the process of work, random people will quickly be eliminated.
When creating a drama club, the most difficult thing is to find a leader. It is best if it is a literature teacher from a nearby school or one of the gifted high school students.
At first, the circle should begin work by staging small, one-act plays, skits, scenes that do not require many characters and complex scenery. Such a repertoire will also allow you to change the program more often. When choosing a play, you must remember that its theme corresponds to the combat missions of the day.
When starting to work on a play, the leader and participants of the circle must first discuss it in the circle class, understand the idea of this work, find out the characters and characteristics of each character, his relationship to other characters in the play.
Even on a poorly adapted site of a rural reading hut or club, you can stage a well-designed production (you just need to show ingenuity.
Drama club participants do not have to limit themselves to just working on staging a play. It will be good if the circle members who are not involved in the play prepare a recitation of poetry. This will provide an opportunity to diversify the evening program and involve more young people in the active work of the circle.
The work of the circle will be interesting and fruitful if Komsomol organizations seriously and daily help its leader.
The song has always been a faithful companion of the Russian people in work and in battle. There are many singing lovers in every village. Therefore, creating a choir is not difficult. The best of the singers, the most musical, can become the director of the choir. Sing well to the accompaniment of an accordion or guitar. New songs can be learned by ear, the melody and words can be recorded on the radio. If there is a gramophone in the village, you can learn songs by listening to records. Choir circles should widely promote Russian folk songs, new battle songs of Soviet poets and composers, and songs of the Great Patriotic War.
In a moment of leisure, young people love to dance. Why shouldn’t Komsomol members become the organizers of this exciting undertaking? In every village there is a good dancer. He can be entrusted with organizing a folk dance club.
We should not forget about the music club. There are many music lovers among young people in the village. It is necessary to gather comrades who have musical instruments, consult with them, select a leader from among the most prepared people, and together with them outline a program of work for the circle.
You can separately gather harmonica players and those who like to play string instruments.
Several clubs can perform at the evenings at the same time. This will make the concert varied and interesting. In addition to circles, there may be performances by individual people - soloists: singers, storytellers, dancers, reciters, musicians, harmonists, etc.
It is good to organize a competition for the best harmonica player, guitarist, and best performer of folk songs. Such competitions always attract a lot of attention from young people. Competitions and shows of amateur performances, organized on the initiative of Komsomol organizations, attract new forces and help to promote talented, gifted people from among the youth.
An amateur art competition can be organized first in one village, among the collective farms of a given village council, and then the best forces can be gathered for a regional amateur performance show. During the very course of a competition or show, new circles usually grow, new participants in amateur performances appear, and Komsomol life in the countryside begins to beat faster.
Good organization of amateur activities increases the activity of young people and unites them around Komsomol organizations. Young people see their leaders and organizers in the Komsomol members and are greedily drawn to work, joining the ranks of the rural Komsomol.
Youth evenings are one of the best forms of mass work of the Komsomol. If amateur clubs work well in the village, it will not be difficult to prepare and conduct an interesting evening for young people.
You can open the evening with a report on any topic that interests young people: about the heroes of the Patriotic War and their exploits, about the current moment, etc.
The speaker for the evening should be invited from the regional center. It could also be a fellow countryman who took part in the Patriotic War, an izbach, a local school teacher, or one of the well-trained Komsomol members. After the report, it is good to organize performances by amateur art groups, dancing.
An interesting evening was organized by Komsomol members of the Kirov state farm in the Kvarken district of the Chkalov region. A report on the fighting traditions of the Komsomol was made by the instructor of the regional committee of the Komsomol, Comrade. Danilova. Front-line soldier Prosha, who worked on a state farm before the war, took the floor. The informative report and the passionate speech of the Komsomol front-line soldier, a participant in the defense of Stalingrad, excited the youth.
At the evening, an amateur art group performed, then physical educators showed gymnastic exercises. The evening ended with a performance by an amateur brass band and dancing.
After the evening, four young collective farmers and two female tractor driver courses announced their desire to join the Komsomol. Such evenings are held by many Komsomol organizations, and they always give positive results.
It is very important to involve as many collective farm youth as possible in organizing such an evening. Give young collective farmers who stood aloof from public life some assignment for preparing the evening, help them with advice, support their initiative, and they can soon become active participants in all the undertakings of Komsomol members.
In the summer, propaganda teams can be organized from participants in amateur performances. Members of such a propaganda brigade, working in the field along with other collective farmers, in their free time organize small concerts, help publish combat leaflets, hold conversations, read newspapers and books aloud, and compose funny ditties on local topics. 
The propaganda team of the Farm hut-reading room in the Nizhne-Uvelsky district of the Chelyabinsk region, led by Nikolai Ovchinnikov, is known far beyond the village council. She is warmly greeted by collective farmers in the field. The brigade leader usually holds a conversation with the collective farmers, and then a small concert is held: a short play or skit is shown, songs and dances are performed, a string orchestra performs, and sometimes physical education students perform.
Particularly popular is the performance of ditties on local themes. Izbacha Ovchinnikov, the compiler of ditties, is called in the village “the master of ditties.” Negligent collective farmers especially get it. The propaganda team pesters them with their marks and sharp satirical ditty.
The Komsomol organization must remember that the success of mass cultural work depends to a great extent on the hut. If the manager of the reading hut is a cultured, well-prepared, energetic person, work will begin to boil in the reading hut, and it will be easier for the Komsomol organization to work. Therefore, selecting a good hut is a vital matter of the Komsomol organization.
“Every step in the work,” says M.I. Kalinin, “every word of the izbacha that can influence people should be aimed at helping the front. Working as a hut is a difficult task, but noble and exciting. This is work for the soul. A person feels that he is bringing enlightenment to the masses. What could be more exciting when you realize that you are expanding the mental horizons of the masses.”
More than half of the huts are Komsomol members. This is a positive fact. But the people in the houses need to be helped in their work on a daily basis, and their political and business training needs to be improved. A strong asset should be created around the reading hut.
Active Komsomol members, teachers, agronomists, doctors, and collective farmer activists can be involved in this work.
One of the forms of combining such an asset is the council at the reading room. The council involves all the cultural forces of the village in its work, considers the work plan of the hut-reading room, discusses issues of its practical activities, hears reports from the leaders of circles, heads of red corners, etc.
The council also monitors the implementation of the budget of the hut-reading room, the safety of its property, timely repairs and maintenance of the premises in cleanliness and order. Members of the council themselves work in brigades, in red corners and on ten-yards and distribute among themselves responsibilities for organizing and managing individual areas of work: military-defense, agrotechnical, information, amateur artistic activities, etc. The council of the hut-reading room reports on its work to village council of workers' deputies. The Komsomol organization must take an active part in all the work of the reading hut council.
Cultural work in rural areas is an important area of Komsomol activity. One cannot think that it is limited only to the reading room.
The head of a Komsomol organization must be aware of what young people read, what heroes of works excite them, what a young man who is interested in history, military affairs or geography dreams of learning about. Skillfully directing these interests and requests, tirelessly taking care of increasing the knowledge and political outlook of young people is the urgent task of the Komsomol leader.
In organizing mass cultural work, one should always be guided by the instructions of Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, who at the Moscow meeting on political education work said:
“Constantly introduce political elements into cultural and educational work. At the moment, focus all your attention on helping the front in all its forms, in the most varied manifestations. The one from the cultural workers, from the huts, who will carry out this line satisfactorily, will do a great political job.”
- ((hut reading()a()linya)) reading hut; pl. reading huts, reading huts; and. In the USSR until the end of the 60s: a cultural and educational institution in the village. The manager of the reading hut. * * * hut reading room one of the types of rural club institutions in the USSR before ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
One of the types of rural club institutions in the USSR before the beginning. 60s... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Noun, number of synonyms: 2 library (19) toilet (87) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary
G. Cultural and educational institution in rural areas (in the USSR in the 20-60s of the XX century). Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova
hut-reading room- , s and, w. Reading room in a peasant house. ◘ In our country, clubs have now become centers of political educational work in working-class areas, and reading houses in the villages (Molotov). BAS, vol. 5, 86. Resolved: to purchase... ... using the workers' correspondents' fees... Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Council of Deputies
One of the types of rural club institutions in the USSR. They arose in the first years of Soviet power. In some national republics, districts, territories, regions, mobile I. h. red teahouses, red plagues, red yurts, etc. were created... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
hut-reading room- hut and chit alnya, hut and chit alnya... Russian spelling dictionary
hut-reading room- (1 f 1 f), R. hut / chit / flax ... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language
hut-reading room- hut/chit/linen; pl. and / huts chit / flax, huts chit / flax; and. In the USSR until the end of the 60s: a cultural and educational institution in the village. The manager of the reading hut... Dictionary of many expressions
hut-reading room- hut/a/ chit/a/l/n/ya... Morphemic-spelling dictionary
Books
- The ashes of Odessa knock on my heart Collection of poetic, prose and journalistic materials, Izba-Reading Room. The collection “The Ashes of Odessa Knocks on My Heart” was compiled by the editorial team of the literary and artistic portal “Izba-Reading Room” based on materials from the site’s authors.. The main idea of this…
- The rejected returned or the rejected joins the Collection of poetic, prose and journalistic materials, Izba-Reading Room. The collection "Crimea is a Russian land. The rejected returns or the rejected joins!" was compiled by members of the editorial board and the artistic council of the literary and public association"…
INTRODUCTION
Over the past five years, I have heard every now and then: is the history of libraries really necessary? Well, they were, they are alive now, but are they worth such close attention to their past? I am sure that the history of libraries is on the same level as the history of public education. After all, they, along with schools, played a huge role in the life of our people. They help to store and transmit from generation to generation the knowledge accumulated by humanity. Studying the history of libraries operating in the city is an opportunity not only to determine the opening date and addresses, but also to try to name those who opened these libraries.
The history of libraries can be studied in two ways. First: memories of the oldest library workers and their readers. The second is the study of documents that are stored in the funds of our archives: the State Archive of the Ulyanovsk Region and the Archive of Contemporary History. In addition to traditional statistical reports on the work of libraries for each year of operation from the date of foundation, text reports, certificates on the work of libraries and other documents are also stored in the funds of the cultural department and the cultural department of the city council. What a joy when, through a pile of dusty, dry reports, you come across a living word about a library or a reading hut - evidence that not just a performer, but also a real ascetic worked in this small cultural institution.
The scope of my research is limited to the Soviet period and only to the city (the history of the largest libraries - regional scientific and youth libraries - is dealt with by the scientific secretary of the Palace of Books V.M. Patutkina).
HUT - READING ROOM
Let's imagine our city in the early twenties. It is generally accepted that at this time the city had two or three libraries. This is wrong. According to the list of libraries as of December 1, 1921, there were 34 libraries in the city. The list includes military and departmental libraries: for example, at the Council of National Economy, the Gubernia Land Department, the health department, the concentration camp, the correctional home, and so on. The same list includes the familiar provincial book depository, the central library, two regional libraries, and so on. In addition to the registered libraries, it is known that at various institutions and organizations of the city there were ... 47 issuing points.
The ruler of thoughts in those years was our fellow countryman - V.I. Lenin. He and his wife N.K. Krupskaya thought through and implemented the idea of bringing the book as close as possible to the reader. For example, V.I. Lenin believed that the number of libraries is an indicator of the culture of any country. In his opinion, the library should be located within a 20-minute walk from the reader’s place of residence. During the most difficult years of devastation and famine for the country, reading huts began to appear in the country.
About a hundred reading huts were registered in the Ulyanovsk region, six of them were located in the city. Some of them became prototypes of modern libraries, clubs and even kindergartens.
Ulyanovsk reading huts appeared as “centers of political education and conductors of all cultural events.” The reading hut was supposed to contribute to the “unity of the poor and farm laborers with the middle peasants”.
At each reading hut there were political circles, health centers (to eliminate illiteracy), and drama clubs (in the largest - Kulikovskaya - reading hut they staged plays that were popular among the population.
The reading huts were supposed to become centers for organizing conscription into the army; the huts organized evenings of remembrance of former military personnel and ceremonial farewells for conscripts. The duty of the hut is to design the wall newspaper, organize loud readings and various lectures. Not all, but many of the reading huts had small collections of books. In some cases, the izbach agreed to issue books at certain hours (he brought books from the Book Palace). Each reading hut subscribed to newspapers and magazines. In the early 30s, reading huts resembled today's teenage clubs. “Instances have become more frequent when teenagers and low-income children of deprived people, breaking off relations with their parents, go to the streets, where they beg, commit crimes, thereby joining the ranks of street children,” Terekhina and Agapova write in Gorono, “we ask for specific instructions on how to deal with children dispossessed people living in poverty on the streets." Much attention was paid to working with children and women. Children's playgrounds were organized at large reading huts, which became the prototypes of today's kindergartens. One of the documents clarifies that "the reading hut arose as a means of cultural education among unorganized households. housewives." The same document proposed "in view of summer time, to transfer work (reading rooms) to nature and, if possible, organize excursions (for housewives), for example, to a nursery named after. Ilyich, to a museum or to a house for the protection of motherhood and childhood. The plans for the work of the reading hut include organizing outdoor readings of the magazines “Rabotnitsa”, “Delegate” and “Peasant Woman”. On the outskirts of the city, where there are no reading rooms yet, it was proposed to organize travel and book distribution points. “Some reading huts were organized not from above, but ... from below, spontaneously, by the population themselves. For example, in November 1925, the Butyrskaya reading hut was opened.
From the documents of 1928, one can see the concern of the authorities that “the population of Tuti and the Northern Pasture with the adjacent areas of Brick Sheds and Boltavsky Pits are not at all served by political education.”(form 521, inventory 1, file 521, p. 191). “The house on Sbornaya 74\4 is quite suitable as a reading hut for servicing the Northern Pasture,” reports the author of one of the reports. He recommends purchasing the Doktorov brothers' house for this purpose. It is possible that as a result of the authorities' concern, huts - reading rooms - appeared in Kulikovka and Podgorye. Before this, the population of these areas of the city was served by booksellers from the Palace of Books and school employees. However, the authors of the documents admit that this work was carried out “haphazardly and without any regulation.” One of the reasons is called “non-payment of labor.” Izbachi, like school employees, received salaries. GORONO supplies the reading huts with kerosene, firewood and newspapers. The Department of Public Education oversaw the work of the reading rooms until 1954. Questions about reading huts were discussed at the “Association of Librarians” operating in the city. For example, at a meeting of the Gubpolitprosvet (1925), the “Union...” raised the issue of supplying reading rooms with reading and book forms, as well as “Notebooks for issuing books.” At each reading hut there were Soviets from among activists. Before starting work, the librarian had to undergo a month-long “test” (training and practice) at the Central Library. The archives contain many interesting facts about many reading huts in the city and region. The reading huts were financed from the county budget. Where there is no money, it was supported by...the population. “The reading huts seemed to come to life,” they write in the documents of Gubpolitprosvet dated March 10, 1924, “visits have grown several times, the need for a good peasant book has increased... The magazine “Atheist” is read to its core. It is necessary to order posters with the image of V.I. Lenin, books with his biography. We need books by Stasov “What peasants need to know about Soviet power, about the land and about their farms”... We need the magazine “New Village”.
The Ulyanovsk archives contain many interesting facts about the Nizhne-Chasovenskaya, Kanavskaya and Royal reading huts in the Zavolzhsky district. In the center of Ulyanovsk there were Butyrskaya, Kulikovskaya and Podgornaya reading huts. In this publication I will focus on one of them - Butyrskaya.
BUTYRSKAYA
Old-timers know that Butyrki is the area of the old cemetery, Robespierre and Nizhne-Polevaya streets. In the twenties and thirties, the Butyrki district was considered an area of poor handicraftsmen and artisans. Judging by the sources, it was from them that the initiative to open the hut-reading room came. It was opened twice. For the first time - in November 1925. The reading hut was located in the two-story Pishtrest building, which before the revolution housed the office of the Lipatov mill.
The ideal reading hut includes a stage. It was built. A literacy center was opened in one of the rooms, and another was occupied by a watchman. The first furniture of the reading room: tables, benches, water tank.
No information has yet been found about the first Butyrki hut. Most likely, he failed to prove himself, perhaps he simply did not know where to start working. Perhaps he languished in this state for two years, otherwise why in November 1927 the Butyrskaya reading room opened again. The hut Presnyakov informs about this. In statements to Gorono, he writes that the reading room opened literally from scratch: when he arrived, there was no table, no bench, no water tank in the room. Presnyakov asks for one hundred rubles to be allocated to him to buy furniture. In January 28, he orders firewood, since there are three stoves in the room and before that he bought firewood with his own money. The inspectors are unanimous in their assessment of his performance: “The work... can be felt.”
Under Presnyakov, a drama club and a health center began operating in the reading hut.
The methodologist of the Palace of Books, K. Okolova, who inspects the work of the reading hut, calls the Butyrskaya reading hut “a valuable mobile point.” In the audit report, she reports that “students and teenagers are reading more, but there is no guidance on how readers should read.”. K. Okolova notes that the reading hut is one common room where checkers are played and rehearsals take place. Perhaps there was some kind of room for issuing books? It is known that Presnyakov regularly announced the opening hours of the transport. Most likely, the books were brought from the Book Palace. Izbach compiled annotated lists of literature and designed book exhibitions.
Under Presnyakov, the reading hut was renovated, and a children's playground for 62 people was built. On Red Army Day, he organized an excursion to Polivno. This event resolved the issue of linking the population with the army. By the date of the capture of the city (September 12), a report was made. After the speaker there was a speaker on loans. The event brightened up the cinema. The work of the Butyrka izbach was used as an example. And, as often happens, he was noticed there, “at the top,” and already in October 1928, Presnyakov was transferred to another area of work: to the Karsun volost Komsomol committee.
The fate of the Butyrskaya reading room confirms the well-known “Personnel decides everything.” Presnyakov’s place was taken by Bayushev, who, as written in the report of the political education inspector for the city of Vasyanin, “has never worked in political education work and is of little interest. His work is bad.” Bayushev is the complete opposite of Presnyakov. He is rude and tactless.
The most affectionate thing about visitors: “hooligans.” If he was not in the mood, he could call the visitor a “drunk face.” Butyrka activists fought against the rude izbach: each of his “mistakes” was reported to the political education department. For example, once Bayushev disrupted the planned report “On the Lena execution.” The speaker has arrived, and circus performers are performing in the reading hut. Izbach justified himself with the banal: “I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Activists continued to brand the izbach in the wall newspaper. But this did not help: Bayushev did not want to re-educate and behaved defiantly. At one of the meetings, inspector Vasyanin reports that Butyrok activists refuse to work with Bayushev.
There are not so many huts in the city. Izbach of the Kanavskaya reading room Ivan Veselkin has long been asking to be transferred to the city. We have to make concessions. Veselkin is transferred to the Butyrskaya hut-reading room, Bayushev is “exiled” to Kanavskaya.
Let's look through one of the plans for the Butyrskaya hut-reading room. The main task is “to widely familiarize the population with the tasks of the party.” No less important is to “concentrate the population’s attention on strengthening the country’s defense capability.” In the section on circle work, it is increasingly noted: “Organize...”, “Resume...”
The OSOAVIAKHIM and MOPR circles were obligatory for all circles at huts - reading rooms. Under Presnyakov they existed, but under Bayushev they fell apart. The wall newspaper stopped publishing, activists did not gather.
At the reading hut, the health center is open again. Izbach plans to create a wall-kicks circle, a cell to combat alcohol, an “Atheist” circle, Komsomol and Pioneer circles. It is planned to “stage a movie three times,” prepare a performance twice with the help of the drama club, and organize checkers games. Interesting point: “Hold a show trial.”
There is a children's playground at the Butyrskaya reading room - this is the prototype of a modern kindergarten. It is headed by E.F. Greshnyakova. There is her statement with a request to “release the manufacture in order to sew linen for the children of poor parents.”
Unfortunately, Ivan Yakovlevich Veselkin did not show himself either. According to one version, he quit of his own free will. According to another, it was filmed by the harsh Butyrka Komsomol members. They did not forgive him for his “negligent attitude towards work, drinking and rudeness...”. Since February 1929, the Butyrskaya hut-reading room has been headed by A. Voronin. His work was marked by the rise of mass work. An assessment of his work can be read in the report of political education inspector Sharagin, who visited the reading hut. He writes that “in the area of the old and new Butyrki there are no cultural and educational institutions, except for the reading hut. ... Geographically, it is located far from the outskirts. The Butyrka population is mainly poor: handicraftsmen, seasonal and permanent workers, dray and passenger cab drivers. The capacity of the hut -reading room - 80-100 people."
The inspector notes that “the work is getting better: there are already 27 people in the OSOAVIAKHIM cell, 17 in the drama club, 22 attending the sanitary club - ROKK. Amateur artists sometimes stage paid performances for the benefit of the reading room.
There is a political circle among Komsomol members.. In the Butyrskaya hut-reading room all political and economic campaigns, all revolutionary holidays are reflected in a timely manner."
Sharagin gives several figures: monthly - seven reports and lectures; the reading hut has about 200 political and fiction books. Books are issued twice a week. 157 people were recruited (in the sense of being recorded). Every month 670 books pass through the hands of readers. There are booksellers at the reading hut.
Sharagin is dissatisfied with the “weak management of the hut-reading room.” There is not enough separate room: “68 sq. m. is not enough.” He cites the lack of work with parents as a disadvantage of his job. The “Group of the Poor” is not organized and work is not carried out among women. The manager of the reading hut does not participate in the work of the literacy center.
Sharagin suggests that the hut “keep an accurate record of the throughput of visitors.” At the same time, he recommends “taking a course toward weeding out alien elements visiting the reading hut.”
In June, Voronin asks for a vacation: he was lucky enough to receive a ticket to a rest home. And in September he wrote an application to “travel to Samara to enter the pedagogical institute from September 1 to September 6, 1929.” In the same folder is a statement from M. Trifonova. She asks to be appointed head of the hut-reading room on Butyrki.
FIRST LIBRARY
In 1938, the Butyrskaya Izba Reading Room turned into Library No. 1. Until recently, employees of City Library No. 1 considered the date of its opening to be 1941, citing the fact that an inventory book had been kept since that year. The search for a solution from the City Executive Committee “brought” me to 1938. Firstly, because in one of the certificates about the work of city libraries for 1950, the director of the Palace of Books, Elizaveta Perukhina, reports that ... “the first library has existed since 1938.” Plunging into pre-war documents, I discovered the “Cost Estimate for 1 City Library for 1938.” However, where is the decision of the City Council?
“Proletarian Way” dated May 28, 1937 publishes a note by N. Sokolova “The Forgotten Outskirts”. She writes that the city “pays little attention to the outskirts. Take, for example, the old and new Butyrkas. There is no club here, not even a small reading room.” As we know, there was a reading room in this area, but perhaps in the thirties it worked so quietly that N. Sokolova did not even notice it. One way or another, the authorities read the note and drew their conclusions. From the minutes of the section of public education and the elimination of illiteracy dated January 28, 1938, its leader Peter Kradenov spoke “... about the need to open a library under the mountain, where a secondary school is also needed, since in the future the population there will increase.” At the meeting, it was decided to provide for the opening of one library on the outskirts of the city in the budget for 1939. Today we know that before the war only one library was opened, the first one opened on the premises of the former Butyrskaya hut-reading room. There is a document according to which the librarian E. Gladilina was hired at the Butyrki hut-reading room, and left the city library No. 1. (It is not clear why the library on Butyrki was assigned number 1, because by that time the Ulyanovsk Gorono was already under the jurisdiction of the city Tatar library, which dates back to December 1918).
It is possible that many modern libraries “grew” from reading huts. Some of them existed until the mid-50s. But this is in the region. City reading huts themselves ceased to exist even before the war; the very phrase “reading hut” is a thing of the past. And after the war, libraries began to grow. The second city library (now library No. 4) and the first children's library (now library No. 24) opened in 1946. Three years later, in May 1949, documents were signed on the opening of city library No. 3 (40th Anniversary of October Street, 33). In the first half of the fifties, half of the current libraries in the city opened in the city: from 4 to 11. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin - in 1969 and 1970 - seven more libraries appeared in Ulyanovsk. One of the last to be opened in the city was the 30th children's library (1990). In 1967, the second city library became the Central Library. Since 1974, the city has undergone centralization: the city's libraries have become a single library system. Its first director was L. A. Ogneva, then V. M. Poletaeva. Since 1992, the city's library system has been led by Honored Worker of the Russian Federation R.M. Gimatdinova.
SUBURBAN LIBRARIES
In December 2006, ten suburban libraries joined the city's library system. Each of them has its own story. It is possible that the date of opening of many rural libraries should be considered the date of opening of the hut-reading room. As we remember, they operated in almost every large village of the Ulyanovsk region. This is mentioned in the list of reading huts in the Ulyanovsk region, political education instructor at GORONO Vyugov. In a report dated September 26, 1936, he lists that reading huts operated in the villages of Zagudayevka and Volostnikovka. Biryuchevka, Novy Uren, Karlinsky, Seldi, Mostovaya, Shumovka, Vyshki, Poldomasovo, Isheevka, Vinnovka, Vyrypaevka and others... From Lebedinsky’s report on cultural work in the Ulyanovsk region for 1936, we learn that in the region there are 15 reading huts and 8 libraries. From the reports on each library it is clear that in the reading huts there is an accordion, a gramophone, a balalaika, and in some there is a radio. Most have books, but not all. Booksellers bring books to such reading huts.
From documents related to the work of reading huts, we learn that many libraries and reading huts are occupied “for other needs”: for example, in Bely Klyuch, Kuvshinovka and Elshanka grain was stored in reading huts.
An interesting fact: in the thirties, the press (in particular, the newspaper “Proletarsky Put”) willingly covered the work of reading huts. In the issue of September 1, 1937. We are talking about a hut-reading room with. White Key (now branch library No. 32). “...a good library, beautiful paintings, but the villagers rarely visit it. Izbach Sokolova (Lyakhova) poorly organizes cultural work.” Another note criticizes the chairman of the board of the Sviyaga collective farm, Tikhonov, who does not understand the role of the izbach. Tikhonov forces Izbacha Guryanov to be... a hairdresser. “If you don’t become a hairdresser,” Tikhonov threatens, “I’ll fire you from your job.”
CONCLUSION
Reconstructing the history of small and seemingly invisible cultural institutions is an important part of preserving social memory. It is possible that it was in such small cultural institutions that our parents or grandparents read their first books. Studying the history of individual libraries and the library system as a whole is an important part of the history of the cultural development of the city. Librarianship has always been an indicator of the level of literacy and intelligence of the people. Information about how many libraries there were in the city, where they were located, how they worked, and even what mistakes were made in relation to these cultural institutions is part of the history of the city. The reading hut from which this or that modern city library grew is like a “small homeland” that we love, no matter what. Unfortunately, it is impossible in one article to cover the history of our libraries from different points of view. The materials stored in our archives are enough for hundreds of articles. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the Ulyanovsk archives for their help in finding materials for research on the history of the reading huts and libraries of the city of Ulyanovsk.
NOTE: