Library Services for the Population of the BAM Construction Areas (1970s—1980s)

The historical experience of library services for the population, accumulated in the areas of new economic development of the late Soviet era, needs to be generalized. At the same time, the processes of formation and development of libraries in sparsely populated territories of Siberia and the Far East have not received sufficient coverage in the special literature. This paper examines the features of the libraries organization in the construction areas of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) in the period of the 1970s — 1980s. The research materials include archival documents, most of which are introduced into research discourse for the first time, as well as oral stories of participants in the all-Union construction project, collected by the author in the BAM regions. The libraries formation in the mainline construction zone was carried out at an accelerated pace within the framework of the state network of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR and the trade union system of transport builders. As a result, the provision of library services to builders was higher than in neighboring regions. However, the accessibility of libraries remained low, because the construction areas were characterized by a low population density, poor development of transport and infrastructure facilities, personnel shortage, and insufficient material and technical support. At first, the book collections were acquired spontaneously from the number of the publications donated or collected from the local population. As soon as the library systems stabilized, the central organizations “Soyuzkniga” and “Roskniga” became the main sources of book supplies, but they could not meet the reader’s demand of the mainline builders. The BAM had formed a special readership, which was distinguished by a high educational level, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the shaped reader’s interests and needs. This was due to the careful selection of those arriving at the construction site as part of Komsomol detachments. Along with their main functions, the libraries were a place for communication and leisure for workers, which compensated for the lack of other social and cultural institutions. Due to the weakness of the Party and state control, they had greater independence in cultural and mass work, which was reflected in the widespread distribution of different associations and library clubs, the acquaintance of readers with the works of authors banned by the Soviet censorship, and the development of amateur literary creativity.

1. Likhomanova E.V. The Legal Conditions for the Development of the Library Network in the Soviet Union on the Example of the Volgograd Region (1960—1970), Regional’naya istoriya: metodologiya, istochniki, istoriografiya: sbornik nauchnykh trudov III Mezhdunarodnykh Usmanovskikh chtenii [Regional History: Methodology, Sources, Historiography: Collected Scientific Papers of the 3rd International Usmanov Readings]. Ufa, Bashkirskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta Publ., 2016, pp. 177—179 (in Russ.).

2. Tashlykova M.I. Book Collections Formation Issues of Libraries in the North of Western Siberia (1965—1991), Chelovek v usloviyakh intensivnogo neftegazovogo osvoeniya Severa: materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii [People in the Conditions of Intensive Oil and Gas Development of the North: Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Conference]. Tyumen, Tyumenskii Industrial’nyi Universitet Publ., 2010, pp. 174—178 (in Russ.).

3. Artemyeva E.B., Makeeva O.V. Librarians in Siberia and the Far East under Sociocultural Transformations: Problems of Study, Nauchnye i tekhnicheskie biblioteki [Scientific and Technical Libraries], 2016, no. 12, pp. 91—109. DOI: 10.33186/1027-3689-2016-12-90-108 (in Russ.).

4. Gordienko I.V. (ed.) BAM na territorii Buryatii: istoriya stroitel’stva, ee rol’ v khozyaistvennom osvoenii regiona [The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) in Buryatia: The History of Construction, its Role in the Economic Development of the Region]. Ulan-Ude, 1999, 217 p.

5. Minutes of Meetings of the 4th—9th Sessions of the Kazachinsko-Lensky District Council of Workers’ Deputies of the 15th Convocation, Arkhivnyi otdel Kazachinsko-Lenskogo munitsipal’nogo raiona Irkutskoi oblasti [Archive Department of the Kazachinsko-Lensky Municipal District of the Irkutsk Region], coll. R-1, aids 1, fol. 347, pp. 104—105 (in Russ.).

6. Minutes of Meetings of the 1st—2nd Sessions of the Kalarsky District Council of Workers’ Deputies for 1982, Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Zabaikal’skogo kraya (GAZK) [State Archive of the Trans-Baikal Territory], coll. R-927, aids 1, fol. 463, p. 111 (in Russ.).

7. Minutes of the 3rd Plenum of the Road Trade Union of Railway Workers of Trans-Baikal Transport Builders (November 25, 1977), Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Buryatiya (GARB) [State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia], coll. R-2002, aids 1, fol. 17, p. 28 (in Russ.).

8. Report of the Chairman of the Road Trade Union of Railway Workers of the East Siberian Transport Builders for the Period from 18.12.76 to 15.12.79 at the 9th Road Trade Union Reporting and Election Conference on December 15, 1979, Arkhivnyi otdel administratsii goroda Bratska [Archive Department of the Bratsk City Administration], coll. R-146, aids 1, fol. 259, pp. 45—47 (in Russ.).

9. Soboleva E.B. (ed.) Biblioteka v sisteme obshchestvennykh otnoshenii regiona [Libraries in the System of Public Relations in the Region]. Novosibirsk, 1999, 204 p.

10. Report on the Work of the Executive Committee of the Ust-Kut City Council of Workers’ Deputies for 1980, Arkhivnyi otdel Ust’-Kutskogo munitsipal’nogo obrazovaniya Irkutskoi oblasti [Archive Department of the Ust-Kut Municipal Formation of the Irkutsk Region], coll. R-29, aids 1, fol. 294, p. 52 (in Russ.).

11. Minutes of Meetings of the 1st—3rd Sessions of the Kazachinsko-Lensky District Council of Workers’ Deputies of the 19th Convocation, Arkhivnyi otdel Kazachinsko-Lenskogo munitsipal’nogo raiona Irkutskoi oblasti [Archive Department of the Kazachinsko-Lensky Municipal District of the Irkutsk Region], coll. R-1, aids 1, fol. 470, pp. 89—110 (in Russ.).

12. Report of the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Kalarsky District Council of Workers’ Deputies “On Measures to Further Improve Cultural Services to the Population in the Light of the Decisions of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”. 1984, Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Zabaikal’skogo kraya (GAZK) [State Archive of the Trans-Baikal Territory], coll. R-927, aids 1, fol. 551, p. 89 (in Russ.).

13. Report “On the Cultural Service of the BAM Builders by the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR” to the Board of the Ministry of Transport Construction of the USSR. 1980, Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv ekonomiki (RGAE) [Russian State Archive of Economics], coll. R-9538, aids 16, fol. 3392, pp. 119—121 (in Russ.).

14. Report of the Head of the Town Library of the Settlement of Ulkan “On the Work of Clubs and Libraries to Promote and Implement the Resolutions of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”. 1986, Arkhivnyi otdel Kazachinsko-Lenskogo munitsipal’nogo raiona Irkutskoi oblasti [Archive Department of the Kazachinsko-Lensky Municipal District of the Irkutsk Region], coll. R-39, aids 1, fol. 87, p. 177 (in Russ.).

15. Annual Report on the Work of the Department of Culture of the Executive Committee of the Severobaikalsk City Council of Workers’ Deputies for 1983, Arkhivnyi otdel administratsii goroda Severobaikal’ska [Archive Department of the Severobaikalsk City Administration], coll. R-10, aids 1, fol. 8, p. 12 (in Russ.).

16. Krasilnikov S.A., Posadskov A.L. et al. (eds.) Razvitie bibliotechnogo dela v Sibiri i na Dal’nem Vostoke v sovetskii period: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [The Development of Librarianship in Siberia and the Far East in the Soviet Period: collected scientific papers]. Novosibirsk, GPNTB Publ., 1988, 168 p.

17. Argudyaeva Yu.V. Trud i byt molodezhi BAMa: nastoyashchee i budushchee [Labor and Everyday Life of the BAM Youth: Present and Future]. Moscow, Mysl’ Publ., 1988, 174 p.

18. Salakhova L.M. Kul’tura molodykh industrial’nykh gorodov Vostochnoi Sibiri v seredine 50-kh — 80-e gody: opyt Bratsko-Ust’-Ilimskogo territorial’no-proizvodstvennogo kompleksa [The Culture of Young Industrial Cities of Eastern Siberia in the Mid-50s — 80s: The Experience of the Bratsk-Ust-Ilimsk Territorial Production Complex]. Bratsk, 2005, 222 p.

19. Minutes of Meetings of the Presidium of the Road Trade Union of Railway Workers of Trans-Baikal Transport Builders for 1975, Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Buryatiya (GARB) [State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia], coll. R-2002, aids 1, fol. 2, p. 18 (in Russ.).

20. Odorova T.L. Some Trends of Forming the Book Trade Assortment in Buryatia (1970—1980), Kniga: Sibir’ — Evraziya: Trudy I Mezhdunarodnogo nauchnogo kongressa [Book: Siberia — Eurasia: Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific Congress]. Novosibirsk, GPNTB SO RAN Publ., 2016, vol. 2, pp. 233—239 (in Russ.).

21. Posadskov A.L. (ed.) Ocherki istorii knizhnoi kul’tury Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka. T. 5. 1963—1991 gg. [Essays on the History of Book Culture in Siberia and the Far East. Volume 5. 1963—1991]. Novosibirsk, GPNTB SO RAN Publ., 2006, 534 p.

22. Odorova T.L. Some Trends of Bookselling Service of the Population of Buryatia (1970—1991), Vestnik Vostochno-Sibirskoi gosudarstvennoi akademii kul’tury i iskusstv [Bulletin of the East Siberian State Academy of Culture and Arts], 2013, no. 2 (5), pp. 29—32 (in Russ.).

23. Materials of the Committee on Mass Media and Printing, Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Buryatiya (GARB) [State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia], coll. R-1350, aids 1, fol. 1482, p. 39 (in Russ.).

24. Information “On the Development of Film Services, Printing and Book Trade in the Areas of Construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline” at the Board of the Ministry of Transport Construction of the USSR. 1981, Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv ekonomiki (RGAE) [Russian State Archive of Economics], coll. R-9538, aids 16, fol. 4246, p. 245 (in Russ.).

25. Pronina Yu.S. Modernization of the Public Role of Libraries in the Context of Perestroika (1985—1991), Gumanitarnye nauki v Sibiri [Humanitarian Sciences in Siberia], 2007, no. 2, pp. 112—114 (in Russ.).

26. Afanasyev M.D. Za knigoi: mesto chteniya v zhizni sovetskogo rabochego [Behind the Book: The Place of Reading in the Life of a Soviet Worker]. Moscow, Kniga Publ., 1987, 126 p.

27. Belkin E.V., Sheregi F.E. Formirovanie naseleniya v zone BAM [Formation of the Population in the BAM Zone]. Moscow, Mysl’ Publ., 1985, 170 p.

28. Dvorkina M.Ya. Librarianship in Siberia and the Far East, Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science], 2000, no. 5, pp. 126—128 (in Russ.).

29. Istoriya Severo-Baikal’skogo raiona [History of the North Baikal Region]. Ulan-Ude, Nova-Print Publ., 2015, 600 p.

30. Minutes of the Sixth Plenum of the Road Trade Union of Railway Workers of the East Siberian Transport Builders on October 19, 1983, Arkhivnyi otdel administratsii goroda Bratska [Archive Department of the Bratsk City Administration], coll. R-146, aids 1, fol. 345, p. 99 (in Russ.).

31. Kuchmurukova E.A. Istoriya knizhnoi tsenzury Buryatii: uchebnoe posobie [The History of Book Censorship in Buryatia: study guide]. Ulan-Ude, 2013, 159 p.

32. Verbitsky Yu.S., Pyankov V.D., Sushchevich V.A. Pravda o BAMe: BAM glazami uchastnikov ego stroitel’stva [The Truth about the Baikal-Amur Mainline: The BAM through the Eyes of the Participants in its Construction]. Moscow, ASMO-Press Publ., 2010, 288 p.

33. Annual Report on the Work of the Department of Culture of the Executive Committee of the Severobaikalsk City Council of Workers’ Deputies for 1982, Arkhivnyi otdel administratsii goroda Severobaikal’ska [Archive Department of the Severobaikalsk City Administration], coll. R-10, aids 1, fol. 4, p. 43 (in Russ.).

34. Kuzoro K.A., Bolotskikh D.N. The Club in Modern Rural Library (From the Experience of Activity of Libraries of the Kargasoksky, Krivosheinsky and Molchanovsky Districts of Tomsk Region), Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Kul’turologiya i iskusstvovedenie [Tomsk State University Journal of Cultural Studies and Art History], 2013, no. 2, pp. 87—92 (in Russ.).