Programs about Books and Reading in Central Television

For a long time, various programs about books and reading appeared on TV and then disappeared. They were lost in the TV broadcasting and programs among other programs, cinema films and TV movies. And when programs were closed, they were quickly forgotten. The purpose of this article is to reveal all such TV programs. The author studied the period of more than 50 years. The article gives the names of TV shows about books and reading, belonging to certain channels, and the time of airing. As possible, the author discloses their intent, concepts, content and the names of TV presenters. The sources for the article were weekly bulletins about TV programs, and in the last 30 years — also articles, notes, interviews in professional and general periodicals.

In Soviet times, there were TV programs “In the world of books”, “Bookshop”, “Reading circle”. In 1978—1979, the TV presenter of the “Reading circle” was N.M. Sikorsky, then Director of the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR. In post-Soviet Russia, there got more broadcasts of that kind. These were both educational programs (“Book yard”, “Graphoman”, “Exlibris”, “Book storehouse”) and numerous commercial ones (“Bookstore”, “Home library”, “Bibliomania”, “World of books with Leonid Kuravlev”, “Book news”, “Book world”). The author gives more details are tells about the program “Graphoman”, which was invented and presented by A.N. Shatalov, the poet, critic and publisher. The program originated in 1994 and was broadcast on various channels for more than 10 years. Programs of the recent years are “Book for breakfast”, “Various Readings”, “Words order”, “Figure of speech”, “Pro-Reading”, “Book measurement”, “What to read?”. For over half a century, television actively supported the initiators and creators of various programs that promoted books and reading. This activity has slightly declined in recent years. But viewers continue to learn from the TV screen about new books and watch events in the book industry.

1. Bobrova S. “Bookshop”, Programmy radio i televideniya [Radio and Television Programs], 1969, March 10—17, p. 10 (in Russ.).

2. Novyi tsikl peredach. “In the World of Books”, Govorit i pokazyvaet Moskva [Moscow Says and Shows], 1974, February 13, p. 18 (in Russ.).

3. N.M. Sikorsky’s Archive, Muzei istorii poligrafii, knigoizdaniya i MGUP im. Ivana Fedorova [Museum of the History of Printing, Book Publishing and the Ivan Fedorov Moscow State University of Printing Arts] (in Russ.).

4. Solonenko V.K. N.M. Sikorsky and the TV Program “Circle of Reading”, Rumyantsevskie chteniya — 2019: materialy Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf. (23—24 apr. 2019) [Proc. Int. Sci.-Pract. Conf. “Rumyantsev Readings — 2019” (April 23—24, 2019)]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2019, part 3, pp. 362—366 (in Russ.).

5. Nemirovsky E. Nikolay Mikhailovich Sikorsky, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 1997, July 8, p. 19 (in Russ.).

6. Koval L.M. Nikolay Mikhailovich Sikorsky — a Director of the Lenin Library: (From Personal Memoirs), Kniga: issledovaniya i materialy [Book. Researches and Materials], 2005, coll. 83, pp. 323—335 (in Russ.).

7. Turoverova D. Book Yard, Sem’ dnei: programmy televideniya i radio [Seven Days: Radio and Television Programs], 1991, June 3—9, p. 4 (in Russ.).

8. Shokhina V. The Life at the Court. Tatyana Zemskova: How to Show a Book, Nezavisimaya gazeta [Independent Newspaper], 1995, May 13 (in Russ.).

9. Shatalov A. It Is Important for Me to Show That Writers Are Still Alive, Novoe knizhnoe obozrenie [New Book Review], 1995, no. 8, p. 24 (in Russ.).

10. Altruist Shatalov: The Host of the Program “Graphomaniac” Believes That It does Not Suit Him to Be Good, Nezavisimaya gazeta [Independent Newspaper], 1996, June 1 (in Russ.).

11. Shatalov A. A Bad Book’s Place Is in the Trash, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 1994, August 30, p. 13 (in Russ.).

12. Gavrilov A. Broadcasting in a Glossy Cover. The Giants of Russian Book Publishing Have Mostly Completed the Division of TV Time, Ex Libris — NG, 1997, April 3, p. 1 (in Russ.).

13. Mazheitov D. “Graphomaniac” Is Closed... Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 1998, July 28, p. 2 (in Russ.).

14. Shatalov A. In a Sense, I Am Unique: “Culture” TV Channel Has Resumed Production of the Only Non-Commercial Program about Books, Ex Libris — NG, 2000, February 3, p. 1 (in Russ.).

15. “Graphomaniac” Is 10! Knizhnoe Obozrenie [Book Review], 2003, November 3, p. 2 (in Russ.).

16. Shevelev I. Shatalov in “Chatillon”: Ten Years of the Program “Graphomaniac” Is Just the Beginning, Ex Libris — NG, 2003, November 6, p. 2 (in Russ.).

17. Where Is “Graphomaniac”? Literaturnaya gazeta [Literary Newspaper], 2004, October 27 — November 2, p. 9 (in Russ.).

18. Home Reading, Literaturnaya gazeta [Literary Newspaper], 2006, March 22—28, p. 13 (in Russ.).

19. Roife A., Shcherbak-Zhukov A. What Grows in the Information Field: Polemical Notes about Who and How Tells us about New Books, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 2000, January 24, p. 4 (in Russ.).

20. Shatalov A. There Is a TV Trash Can for Every Bad Book, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 1995, September 26, p. 8 (in Russ.).

21. Pankeev I. We Continued the Educational Traditions, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 2001, August 6, p. 2 (in Russ.).

22. TV Park, 1995, no. 47, p. 43 (in Russ.).

23. Nuikin P. Bibliomania? No, Graphomania! Kul’tura [Culture], 2002, May 23—29, p. 5 (in Russ.).

24. Word Order Discrepancies, Literaturnaya gazeta [Literary Newspaper], 2006, March 29 — April 4, p. 10 (in Russ.).

25. Taroshchina S. The Screen’s Fifth Corner, Novaya gazeta [New Gazette], 2009, July 15, p. 21 (in Russ.).

26. Yakovlev Yu. We Have Been Warned. Not Anniversary, Literaturnaya gazeta [Literary Newspaper], 2009, June 24—30, p. 10 (in Russ.).

27. A Book for Breakfast, Knizhnoe obozrenie [Book Review], 2004, January 12, p. 1 (in Russ.).