On October 18-19, 2016 at the Russian State Library there was held the Annual Meeting of the Heads of Federal and Central Regional Libraries of Russia (hereinafter - the Meeting). There was determined quite extensive agenda: state cultural policy in the library and information sphere; new in the legislation in the area of librarianship; development trends in the branch; independent evaluation of the quality of library services; implementation of the “Model Standard of Public Libraries”, new forms of social and cultural activities of libraries; National Electronic Library (NEL) and other priority projects of the Ministry of Culture of the RF. Plenary Session included 29 presentations, Round Tables “Today and Tomorrow of Library Statistics: Issues of Departmental and Corporate Reporting”, “Topical Issues of the Development of NEL and Interaction with Participants”. There were determined the Winners of the All-Russian contest “Librarian of the Year 2016”, Winners of the 3rd All-Russian contest “Library Analytics - 2015”; the results of the 4th All-Russian contest “The Best Professional Book of the Year” were finalized. There were held “The Conference on the Problems of Further Development of the Electronic Union Catalogue of Libraries of Russia for the Regional Libraries” and the meeting of the Board of the Russian Library Association (RLA). Such meetings are of great informational value, contributing to consolidation of library community in the solution of topical professional problems.

The article is devoted to the new part of library science - Biblioеthnology, which studies the trends and patterns of library activities development in its ethno-cultural aspect. The object of the research is the polyethnic library activity. As part of the external and internal library policy it is also studied by the Library Political Science. Scientific methods of research in the field of biblioethnology are based on the integrated use of the scientific approaches in the humanities knowledge. Biblioеthnology studies perspective areas of polyethnic library work: participation in the promoting the idea of linguistic diversity in cyberspace, strengthening the position of the national Russian language in the close cooperation with the government authorities, civil society entities, organizations and institutions in the field of science, culture, education and information, ethnic centers, mass media; creation of bibliographic aids, thematic electronic databases and digital libraries; development of scientific research and methodical work; education and training of librarians. Subjects of biblioethnology research are ethnic readers (representatives of the major ethnic groups, national minorities) and librarians, who should have sense of national identity and international consciousness; implement active mediation between the polyethnic population and the library-information resources; have specialization in the field of intercultural communication; possess the professional skills to work with the polyethnic population and ethnic communities. Currently biblioethnology is not only scientific, but also academic discipline. Library scientists develop and implement training courses, grants. Basics of biblioethnology are being taught in educational centers and libraries; trainings and seminars in the areas and on the topics of polyethnic library activities are conducted.

The paper considers theoretical, methodological and practical proposals on identification of the criteria for assigning the documents to the regional book monuments. There are established chronological and social value characteristics of the regional book monuments and determined their key differences from the federal book monuments. The discussion on the need of using the concept of «municipal book monument» is updated. For the first time it is proposed to establish the professional organizational structure in the format of non-commercial partnership, aimed to consolidate the activities of the regional centers for work with the book monuments of Siberia and the Russian Far East.

The article reviewed the results of the leading professional events in the field of information and library area - the Annual Integration Forum and the 7th Research and Practical Conference “Cultural Heritage: Resources Integration in the Digital Environment” (October 5-6, 2016), led by the main organizer - the Presidential Library. The relevance of the subject is determined by switchover of the institutions to the mass-scale formation of electronic libraries and digital collections, what requires the development and implementation of new scientific and methodological approaches to the work with information resources. An important factor is also unified, clearly understood by all information technology agenda, focused at the achievement of compatibility at the level of standards, formats and software. The results of scientific research and already implemented projects, and practical studies were presented in 60 reports of the conference participants. Among the main discussed issues are: integration of the resources of libraries, archives and museums; interaction of cultural institutions in the process of building the content of the National Electronic Library; methodology of formation of digital collections of the Presidential Library.

There are considered two directions of the General universal bibliography of periodicals in Russia - recording of the Russian-language publications issued abroad, and publications in the different regions of Russia. In the first direction it is pointed out the project of the online “Union catalog of the periodicals of Russia abroad” on the website “Emigrantika. Russia Abroad”, implemented by the staff of the A. Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad. The second direction emphasizes the importance of interregional bibliographic resources. In the conclusion there is given general overview of the development of bibliography of periodicals and outlined the main challenges to its theory and practice.

There are summarized the results of the International Book Fair of Intellectual Literature Non/Fictio№ 18, held on 30 November - 4 December, 2016 in the Central House of Artists in Moscow. In the framework of the Book Fair there are traditionally held creative and professional meetings, conferences, presentations and workshops. The major professional events of the fair, significant for book and library community, are described. The project on the unified sectoral calendar, designed to coordinate the flow of events of the book industry and form the unified cultural and literary space, is presented. Special attention is paid to the presentation of the bibliophilic edition of M.V. Seslavinsky “Russian Book Rarities of the 20th century: 333 Selected Books”.

The article introduces into scientific circulation the two manuscripts of the famous monument of the Old Russian literature “Alexandria Serbian” - translation of the medieval novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia. Both manuscripts - in the Russian State Library (the first third of the 17th century) and in the State Literary Museum (the first third of the 19th century) - contain original additions to the text made by unknown Old Russian scribes. The most interesting of them is inserted in the story of the death and burial of the great commander the lengthy Plach (Lamentation) of his wife Queen Roxanne. The study of this text demonstrates not only its closeness to the traditional Russian funeral widow Crying and Prichitaniya (Wailing), including Plach (Lamentation) of the widow of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich - Tsaritsa Irina, but also the semantic parallels with the quite famous laments of the wife of the eminent commander of the Time of Troubles in Russia Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky - Princess Alexandra Vasilievna and his mother Princess Elena Petrovna, included in the several literary monuments of the early 17th century, where the central place is occupied by the description of his sudden death at the feast, that immediately gave rise to the story of his poisoning. To the Time of Troubles in Russia pointed the original epilogue written to Alexandria in the both manuscripts.

The history of the formation of the Department of Rare Books at the Tambov Regional Universal Scientific Library named after A.S. Pushkin is described. The detailed description of the stages of formation of the Collection of the Department, the methodology of its study, the attribution of single copies, and the principles of separation of book collections is provided. It is revealed the quantitative and thematic composition of the owners’ collections, formed in the Department, presented the examples of valuable books, including the books of “Peter the Great” period, the firsts of the Tambov printing, and traced the history of bibliophily in the Tambov region. Information about the founder and the first Head of the Department of rare books A.I. Sapogov, who devoted his career to identification, study, and description of rare and valuable books, is provided, and his method of formation of the collection of G.R. Derzhavin is described. It is reported on the current work of the Department of rare books, on the Acquisition profile, composition and structure of the Collection, and on the preservation measures. There are summarized the activities of the Regional Centre for the work with book monuments of the Tambov region as the methodical centre for the institutions - holders of the literary monuments. Scientific research work, project and educational activities of the Department of rare books are demonstrated. There is described the work on creating printed catalogues of the rare books, separate book collections, union catalogues of book monuments, and electronic catalogue of rare editions.

The article is devoted to the well-known military historian, General Lieutenant Andrei Nikolaevich Petrov, who for 26 years - from 1872 to 1898 - served as Librarian of the Military-Scientific Library of the General Staff. A.N. Petrov had changed the type of the book depository of the General Staff from the closed institution, designed for officers of the General Staff, to the library available for all users involved in the research activities. For the first time were published two parts of the systematic catalogue of books: “Military Science” and “General Branch”, - and the first supplement thereto with the alphabetical index. These catalogues were used in many military libraries and served as the methodological tool for them. Started at Petrov free acquisition of Russian books from censorship committees, restocking with the works of the Russian literature put the library of the General Staff in a privileged position along with the largest public libraries of Russia. Increased funding of the library also contributed to the procurement of books and periodicals. Military-historical works of A.N. Petrov were included in all catalogues of books of military libraries and were in demand by different categories of readers.

The personal record of the Member of the Saratov scientific archival Commission Elpidifor Ivanovich Arkadyev (1856-1917) - the prominent provincial bibliographer, bibliophile, bibliologist and journalist - was revealed in the Document collection of the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore. The overview of these materials containing the new facts about life and activities of the scientist is provided in the article. The autobiography which is accompanied by the complete list of his works (books, articles, notes, reviews) is of special value, including earlier materials, previously unknown to specialists. The documents disclose the addresses, where E.I. Arkadyev resided in Saratov, and allow to trace the fate of his last book collection. These materials give grounds to assert that the books collected by bibliophile by subscription in 1906 had been transferred to the Central Local Library, but not to Syzran City Public Library, as it was believed earlier. The typewritten obituary, preserved in the personal record papers, clarifies the tragic destiny of E.I. Arkadyev who was murdered by robbers in troubled days of December, 1917.

The article describes the history of the scientific library, arose in 1870, simultaneously with the opening of the Tobolsk Provincial Museum. The library collections were created with the purpose of information support of the research Works conducted by the museum. The basis of the holdings was composed by the tomes on history and nature of the region, collected by the museum founder I.N. Yushkov, who established tradition of extensive correspondence with the scientific societies of the Russian Empire. It contributed to the replenishment of library with the specialized literature. Significant contribution to the development and establishment of the scientific library at the Tobolsk Provincial Museum was made by the first librarians - E.V. Kuznetsov, S.N. Mameev, A.A. Ternovskiy. Thanks to their voluntary work and dedication to librarianship, the book depository at the museum began to serve as a kind of scientific-information center. The library staff conducted a thorough work on systematization and description of the book collections. They repeatedly prepared printed systematic catalogs, which helped to organize the work of library, made its collections available to readers. In preparation of publication the authors used a variety of archival and literary sources, which allowed to determine the place of the scientific library of the Tobolsk Provincial Museum in the historical and cultural environment of the region.

Activities of the library institutions in the Gorky region in the 1930-ies as an integral part of the cultural and social life of the region, as source of education and educational work, repeatedly became the object of study in the works of various authors. In the domestic literature there are covered a number of aspects that reveal the problem. At the same time, the special significance and complexity of this subject determines the necessity of its study in all integrity and diversity. The article presents the analysis of the works, the authors of which made the special contribution to the study of history of librarianship in the Nizhny Novgorod region and to formation of the concept of the features of organization and operation of library services in 1930-ies. This analysis, representing the level of study of the problem, determines the further steps necessary for scientific research.

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes that access to information is crucial. It empowers people to exercise their political and socio-economic rights, to be economically active, to learn new skills and to hold their governments to account. Libraries provide an avenue to achieve ubiquitous public access to the Internet and to ensure that people have the skills they need to access information through technology. The Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries developed the Principles on Public Access in Libraries endorsed by the Governing Board of IFLA.

The experience of public libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the area of acquisition for migrant services during the last 40 years is summarized. The relevance of the problem is connected with the difficulties faced by library professionals worldwide in the selection of publications aimed to best meet the needs of multicultural users. There are considered the main stages of the history of acquisition for migrants in Germany. There are analyzed the technology and methods of acquisition, which include four stages: analysis of the ethnic groups, making plan and estimating the budget, identification of selection criteria and acquisition. Alongside with the analysis of technological cycle, there is summarized the statistical data obtained in the course of survey, conducted by the author among 26 public libraries of FRG in the period of October - December, 2015. Attention is paid to the common problems, faced by the librarians of FRG in the process of acquisition for migrants.

The article highlights the issues of free access of users to information resources in libraries on the example of specifics of librarians work with the legal information systems (LIS). In this regard, there are analyzed the issues of development of professional competencies in the field of libraries. It is presen-ted the training used at the Russian State Library as a method of formation of information competence and shown its effectiveness for the users of legal information systems (“Consultant Plus”, “Garant”, “Techexpert”, “CIS Legislation”), as well as official web portals (LIS “Legislation of Russia”, Research Center of Legal Information “Etalon”, etc.). There are disclosed component parts of the training: flow chart for design of lessons, examples of training tasks. The article represents the results of survey conducted among the users to get their estimate of the contents and form of training lectures, to identify their level of knowledge and skills in operating with the legal information systems. There are given guidelines for librarians on the basis of competency-based approach in the use of LIS. The results of the research can be used by libraries in the practice of methodical work for the formation of professional competencies of library staff, working with the legal information systems, and other electronic resources.

On 6-7 October, 2016 at the Chelyabinsk Regional Universal Scientific Library took place the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Morgenstern Readings - 2016. Libraries of Regions in the Digital Era: Management, Resources, Technology”. The conference was held at the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Russian Library Association, the Ministry of Culture of the Chelyabinsk Region, and the Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture. The All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference is named in honor of the outstanding scientist-biblio-grapher, Doctor of pedagogical sciences, Professor Isaac Grigorievich Morgenstern (1932-2008), who devoted his life to various aspects of the theory and practice of bibliography, librarianship, bibliology and social informatics. The conference was attended by 140 people - among them are the prominent Russian scientists in the field of library science and bibliography, leading experts and directors of the central, regional and municipal libraries, workers of library and information education, young library professionals and postgraduate students. The geography of participants was wide: from the Central Russia to Western Siberia, from St. Petersburg to Kemerovo. The Conference program included the plenary session, work of 3 Sections (“Innovative technologies of information and bibliographic user’s service as a factor in the development of the library”; “Reference and search tools of the library: new format”; “Problems of training, advanced training and retraining of library staff: the content of courses, quality of training and connection with practice”), the Round table “Morgenstern School: Remembering the Teacher...” and the tour in the Reading room named after I.G. Morgenstern. In total, there were presented 42 reports, including 7 poster presentations.

Index of the Materials, published in the Issues  1-6’ 2016