Under the influence of digitalization, the legal relationship between libraries, copyright holders and users is becoming more multifaceted and complex. With the transition to digital content, libraries often no longer hold electronic works, as was the case with printed publications. An increasing number of modern publications are born-digital, meaning that hard copies, with their well-defined legal status, remain the preserve of the shrinking library services sector. Despite the reform of copyright legislation, the legal regulation and practice of library operations in the ever-changing digital environment remains dynamic. This article focuses on the recently introduced definition of digital rights in Russian legislation, its comparison with other definitions, and the reframing of the concept of digital rights for library activities in the digital age. The concept of “digital rights”, enshrined in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, creates a foundation for regulating the digital economy and paves the way for the development of other laws defining the relationships between digital objects. The differences between digital law and digital rights are highlighted, and controversial points of view are analyzed. The authors’ perspective on the digital rights of libraries in the current context is offered.

The strategic management of library policy at the regional level, designed to ensure more integrated and harmonious territorial development, calls for a balance between the rate of digitalization and the digital transformation of libraries. The relevance of the research lies in highlighting regional disparities in the digital transformation of libraries. Its objective is to demonstrate the potential of clustering and visualization for managing library policy based on official state statistics. The study employed statistical methods, along with content analysis of relevant publications, comparative analysis, and ranking. Dashboards (visualization panels) were also developed. The main results include a typology of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on their digitalization outcomes. The data was sourced from the 2024 state statistics on the activities of public libraries, available on the official website of the Main Information and Computing Center of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The article provides a point-rating assessment of the success of regional digitalization of libraries. It also presents a user satisfaction calculator that measures the following metrics: overall customer satisfaction; the likelihood that a customer will recommend the library to others (Net Promoter Score, NPS); the customer effort score (CES); the average handling time (AHT); the first contact resolution rate (FCR); the customer acquisition cost (CAC); the customer retention rate (CRR), etc. The practical significance of the study lies in its application to planning the digital transformation of libraries in Russia’s regions. The paper describes the methodology for analyzing statistical data, developing tile grid maps (heat maps) in Microsoft Excel, and creating a user satisfaction calculator.

The most important task of a special library for the blind is to provide information support for all aspects of a blind person’s life, including education, professional activity, and leisure. Achieving this goal is directly linked to the search for and implementation of effective ways to compensate for visual impairments while ensuring access to information.

The cornerstone of compensatory information systems in libraries — systems that compensate for the limitations in acquiring knowledge by the visually impaired — is reading and the book as a tool capable of significantly broadening the understanding of the world for people with sensory limitations. At the same time, the book as a means of compensation must comply with a number of principles and requirements, including accessibility for non-visual perception and inclusiveness, while the library’s book publishing experience must meet the criteria of feasibility, relevance, and reproducibility.

Inclusiveness in relation to books and reading can be considered from two perspectives: firstly, as a means of engaging with the topic of disability, special opportunities and needs, and secondly, as a multimodal tool for transmitting information, designed for different sensory systems of perception and potentially accommodating the cognitive diversity of the reader.

This paper examines approaches to creating an inclusive book as a multimodal tool for compensating for visual impairment. In this case, inclusiveness in terms of content is secondary. The book may address issues of disability as well as topics unrelated to it. The main focus is on the format of information presentation (primarily non-visual, as we are talking about publications from libraries for the blind). Multimodality, combining audio, tactile, and visual formats, expands the potential readership by offering a choice (or a combination) of methods that are accessible or simply convenient for a particular reader or groups of users.

A structured, well-conceived, methodologically sound, and practically tested process for producing inclusive publications in a library should be built on the principles of multisensory information perception. This contributes to expanding the range of information materials available to people with diverse sensory and cognitive impairments and provides a resource base for replenishing collections and facilitating book exchange between special and public libraries.

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.

In recent years, scholary literature has witnessed a resurgence of historiographical interest in the fate of the nobility in post-revolutionary Russia and their adaptation to new social and political conditions. This topic is examined through the biography of Vladimir Ottonovich Nilender (1883—1965), a historian of classical literature and a staff member of the State Rumyantsev Museum Library (GRM, later the Lenin State Library of the USSR, GBL, now the Russian State Library, RSL). The research draws on a wide range of archival documents from the collections of the RSL, the Central State Archives of Moscow, and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, allowing for a more complete reconstruction of the scholar’s life and career.

The article analyzes V.O. Nilender’s biography as an example of a former nobleman’s successful adaptation to Soviet reality through his work in science and culture. His professional skills and high level of education allowed him to find employment at the GRM Library, concealing his social origins and establishing himself as a classicist. All stages of V.O. Nilender’s career are examined in detail, with particular attention paid to his service at the GRM Library. The scholar’s significant contributions (translations of the ancient tragedies of Sophocles and Aeschylus) to the development of theater, librarianship, and classical philology are noted.

The role of the country’s main library in V.O. Nilender’s life is explored, serving as both a “social refuge” and a scientific springboard for him. His contribution to the development of the GBL as a major scientific center is analyzed. This study fills gaps in V.O. Nilender’s biography and contributes to the study of the role of scholars of noble origin in the formation of Soviet science.

The organization of the Nalanda Buddhist University Library (5—12 centuries) is a unique phenomenon in the history of librarianship. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing interest in the intangible cultural heritage of South Asia, as well as the need to understand the historical models of libraries in the light of modern challenges to the preservation and organization of knowledge.

The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive reconstruction of Nalanda’s library practice based on both written sources (including the pilgrimage travelogues of Xuanzang and Yijing) and archaeological data. The institutional structure of the library and the thematic and linguistic diversity of its collections are examined. These collections included fundamental Buddhist texts such as the sutras, vinaya, and abhidharma, as well as works on secular sciences: medicine, logic, astronomy and mathematics, grammar and linguistics, Hindu philosophy, rhetoric, poetics and fine arts, law, and political science. These texts were written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, and, in the later period, also in Tibetan, Chinese, and some forms of Central Asian languages. The combination of these factors allows us to conclude that the library was encyclopedic in nature, providing instruction in all areas of the Indian intellectual tradition and a high level of intellectual work within the university. The material carriers and storage forms of books are described, as well as the mechanisms for copying and annotating, including as a means of transmitting and disseminating texts. The library’s role as a central hub in the information transfer mechanism is highlighted.

Particular attention is given to the destruction of the library at the end of the 12th century and its consequences for Buddhist culture and Buddhology. The destruction of Nalanda University and its library by fire during military operations marked the collapse of Buddhist education in India and the disruption of intellectual connections between distant Buddhist centers. With the library’s destruction, the Sanskrit originals of many works were lost, surviving only in Tibetan and Chinese translations, created in part thanks to the previous work of the Nalanda University library.

The influence of Nalanda on Buddhist centers in Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia is analyzed, and the significance of its legacy for modern library science and cultural policy is assessed. Nalanda represents the archetype of a universal library capable of uniting academic and spiritual knowledge.

The lack of comprehensive and limited number of specific historical studies devoted to determining the number of military libraries in general, as well as in individual branches of the armed forces, necessitated the continuation of their census. The novelty of this article is achieved by significantly expanding the chronological scope of the work, covering the 19th and early 20th centuries, taking into account the typology of military libraries, and expanding the source base. The purpose of the article is to present the dynamics of the number of libraries in the Corps of Military Engineers from 1819 to 1912, both in general and separately for their various types. An extensive representative source base was compiled, including materials from the Russian State Historical Archive, orders of the military department, regulations on officer libraries in the Corps of Military Engineers, regulations and staffing of military educational institutions directly subordinate to the engineering department, etc. Information on the funding of officer libraries in institutions and units of the military engineering department in 1912 is published. Based on the author’s own typology of libraries of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire, this study presents for the first time a typology of libraries for the Corps of Military Engineers. This typology includes libraries for military research, military educational institutions, officer engineering and sapper libraries, special libraries for enlisted personnel, and personal libraries of military personnel. For the first time, the dynamics of the most complete number of libraries over a period of almost a century — from the early 19th century to the early 20th century — are traced. The theoretical significance of this study lies in its development of a typology for the libraries of the Ministry of War, extending it to libraries of the engineering department and tracing their development in accordance with it. The results obtained can be used today in the acquisition of military library collections, taking into account their specific types.

The ongoing need to update and develop professional competencies makes complementary education essential for the successful performance of specialists in any field, including library and information science. Professional development programs offered by the Center for Complementary Education and Advanced Training of Creative and Administrative Personnel in the Cultural Sector at the Russian State Library (CCE RSL) provide professionals with relevant expertise and skills necessary to advance in the rapidly expanding library industry. However, the effectiveness of these professional development programs is directly dependent on the participant motivation. A high level of engagement fosters active involvement in the educational process, deeper comprehension, practical application of acquired knowledge, and, ultimately, the achievement of desired learning outcomes. Therefore, assessing and accounting for participant motivation plays a crucial role in organizing effective training.

This article highlights the need to analyze learners and assess their motivation during the training planning stage, using the example of the Team Online Project professional development program offered by the CCE RSL. The program aims to develop project management and teamwork competencies among library and information services and cultural institutions to create and implement socio-cultural projects. A survey of participants revealed a more than 2-fold decrease in the proportion of learners guided by on external factors when choosing a program — “management’s decision to send them to training” (from 49% in 2023 to 22% in 2024). At the same time, an increase was observed in the proportion of specialists with intrinsic motivation — “a personal desire to develop and improve their knowledge and skills in their professional field” (from 54% in 2023 to 75% in 2024). The gap between the proportion of participants with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has widened—from 5% in 2023 to 53% in 2024. These questions help learners assess their engagement and initiative in future teamwork, analyze their choices, evaluate their learning expectations, and more.

Assessing participant motivation during the training planning stage allows for an educational process that meets their needs and expectations, increasing learning effectiveness. This mechanism can be used by various organizations to implement effective educational activities.

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