The Library Universe of Margarita Yakovlevna Dvorkina: Celebrating the Scholar’s Anniversary

This article is dedicated to the anniversary of Margarita Yakovlevna Dvorkina, a distinguished library scholar, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, and professor. The 90th birthday of M.Ya. Dvorkina is viewed as a significant event for the professional community, prompting reflection on her intellectual and scholarly path. The scholarly development of the honoree is analyzed in the context of the 1960s, when the library profession enjoyed particular prestige. A significant stage of Dvorkina’s professional biography is associated with her teaching career at the Moscow State Institute of Culture. In 1997, she joined the Russian State Library, which allowed her to combine deep theory with large-scale library practice, leading a research direction within the sector’s flagship institution. The author recognizes Dvorkina’s contribution to library science as the development of a holistic theory of library services as a complex dynamic system, as well as the scholarly interpretation and introduction of key library science categories. She made her most significant theoretical synthesis in three areas: library and information services, the history of librarianship, and the philosophy of library science. In 2002, a biobibliographical index was released, reflecting 195 works by M.Ya. Dvorkina from 1970 to 2001. From 2002 to 2023, more than 230 additional works were published. The works of Dvorkina laid the methodological foundations for the transformation of Russian library practice — the transition to a client-oriented and socially responsible model, where service is interpreted as an activity integrated into information and cultural subsystems. Dvorkina’s anniversary allows us to appreciate her role as a scholar and discern the true value of her contribution to library science beyond titles and accolades. In an era when libraries face fundamental challenges — from digitalization to a changing social role — the clear guidelines set by M.Ya. Dvorkina help them evolve without losing their essential foundation. Her scholarly achievements represent a unique fusion of intellectual depth and historical wisdom, and her ideas have not only become part of the golden fund of our science — they live on, shaping a relevant agenda for new generations of researchers and librarians.

1. Dvorkina M.Ya. The Dissertation Council at the Russian State Library: 2001—2020, Rumyantsevskie chteniya — 2021: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (21—23 aprelya 2021 g.): v 2 ch. [Rumyantsev Readings — 2021: Proceedings of the International Research and Practical Conference (April 21—23, 2021): in 2 parts]. Moscow, 2021, part 1, pp. 237—242 (in Russ.).

2. Kreidenko V.S. A Professional with a Capital P, Bibliosfera [Bibliosphere], 2016, no. 2, pp. 96—98 (in Russ.).

3. Sokolov A.V. Irreproachable Serving the Library (to the Anniversary of M.Ya. Dvorkina), Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science], 2016, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 177—182. DOI: 10.25281/0869-608X-2016-1-2-177-182 (in Russ.).

4. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechnoe obsluzhivanie kak sistema: uchebnoe posobie [Library Service as a System: textbook]. Moscow, Izd-vo MGIK, 1992, 162 p.

5. Dvorkina M.Ya. Revolyutsionno-demokraticheskie biblioteki i ikh rol’ v istoricheskom protsesse razvitiya sotsial’nykh funktsii bibliotek Rossii: konets 50-kh — nachalo 60-kh godov XIX veka [The Role of Revolutionary-Democratic Libraries in the Evolution of Social Functions of Russian Libraries (Late 1850s — Early 1860s)], Cand. ped. sci. diss. Moscow, 1979, 185 p.

6. Stolyarov Yu.N. The Main Principle Is Scientific Integrity. To the Birth Anniversary of Margarita Yakovlevna Dvorkina, Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science], 2021, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 163—167. DOI: 10.25281/0869608X-2021-70-2-163-167 (in Russ.).

7. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechnoe obsluzhivanie: teoreticheskii aspekt: (monografiya) [Library Service: A Theoretical Perspective (monograph)]. Moscow, MGIK Publ., 1993, 249 p.

8. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechnoe obsluzhivanie: teoreticheskii aspekt [Library Service: A Theoretical Perspective (monograph)], Doct. ped. sci. diss. abstr. Moscow, 1994, 39 p.

9. Dobrynina N.E. Strokes to the Portrait of M.Ya. Dvorkina: The Life-Giving Power of Creativity, Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science], 2006, no. 2, pp. 83—86 (in Russ.).

10. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechnoe obsluzhivanie: novaya real’nost’ [Library Service: The New Reality]. Moscow, Izd-vo MGUKI: Profizdat, 2002, 44 p.

11. Iz istorii moskovskikh bibliotek: sbornik statei i materialov [On the History of Moscow Libraries: collected articles]. Moscow, Ehkon-Inform Publ., 1996—2020, issue 9.

12. Dvorkina M.Ya. The Scientific Conference “Library in the Context of History”: 2013 and Retrospective, Bibliotekovedenie [Russian Journal of Library Science], 2013, no. 6, pp. 98—101 (in Russ.).

13. Dvorkina M.Ya. The Inertia of Library History, Bibliosfera [Bibliosphere], 2006, no. 1, pp. 3—5 (in Russ.).

14. Dvorkina M.Ya. Informatsionnoe obsluzhivanie: sotsiokul’turnyi podkhod [Information Services: A Sociocultural Approach]. Moscow, Profizdat Publ., 2001, 110 p.

15. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechno-informatsionnaya deyatel’nost’: teoreticheskie osnovy i osobennosti razvitiya v traditsionnoi i ehlektronnoi srede [Library and Information Activities: Theoretical Foundations and Development Trends in Traditional and Electronic Environments]. Moscow, FAIR Publ., 2009, 254 p.

16. Dvorkina M.Ya. Bibliotechnaya sreda: teoriya i organizatsiya [Library Environment: Theory and Organization]. Moscow, Litera Publ., 2009, 112 p.

17. Margarita Yakovlevna Dvorkina: biobibliograficheskii ukazatel’ [Margarita Yakovlevna Dvorkina: A Biobibliographical Index]. Moscow, Tsentral’naya Nauchnaya Sel’skokhozyaistvennaya Biblioteka Rossiiskoi Akademii Sel’skokhozyaistvennykh Nauk Publ., 2002, 34 p.

18. Dvorkina M.Ya., Salnikova L.I. (eds.) Obshchee bibliotekovedenie: uchebnik [General Library Science: textbook]. Moscow, MGIK Publ., 2015, 298 p.

19. Dvorkina M.Ya. Teoriya i istoriya bibliotechnogo dela: v 2-kh ch. [Theory and History of Library Science: Selected Articles: in 2 parts]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2015, part 1, 452 p.

20. Dvorkina M.Ya. Teoriya i istoriya bibliotechnogo dela: v 2 ch. [Theory and History of Library Science: Selected Articles: in 2 parts]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2015, part 2, 463 p.