Publication of the book by Y.N. Stolyarov “Returned Rubakin” is an extraordinary event in the domestic book culture. It is a bibliological epic, characterized by extensive social background and the variety of characters of the Russian Silver Age (the end of the 19th — the first third of the 20th century). At the same time, this book is a scientific biography of the classic of book business and a valuable contribution to the bibliological biography studies. The author concludes that prerequisites have ripened for the formation of bibliological biography studies that generalize the human studies of library scientists, bibliography scientists and book scholars. Ideological position of the epic “Returned Rubakin” is expressed by the thesis: book is the means of cultivating intelligentsia. Traditionally, intelligentsia was understood in Russia as a reasonable, educated, mentally developed part of population. The article considers the concept of intelligentsia put forward by N.A. Rubakin. This concept embodies the ethical ideal of humaneness — the intellectual scribe of the Silver Age. The author concludes with a futurological fantasy: N.A. Rubakin in the digital noosphere. The article discusses the following issues: artificial intelligence in the service of bibliopsychology; man is a captive of artificial intelligence; the hypothetical realm of inhumanity; biography studies of humaneness.

Currently, innovations in the field of information technology are increasingly becoming the key to the company’s success, its main competitive advantage. The library business is no exception in this regard. The purpose of the study is to study the current trends in the foreign market of library technologies as a factor that directly affects the methods and forms of library work based on information provided on the websites of foreign companies, as well as in summary reports on the development dynamics of the market of library technologies. Specialized companies offer to libraries the new resource management technologies, metadata sets for expanding collection or software tools for optimizing electronic catalogues. They are the providers of innovation for libraries, intermediaries between the end user and the advanced achievements of IT technologies.

The author notes that among the priorities of the development of library technology industry the unchallenged leadership belongs to library-information systems of the new generation: first, library service platforms that use cloud technologies and service architecture, and second, advanced integrated library systems with the addition of Web modules, Web applications, etc. The hidden spring of the development of foreign market of library technologies is the fundamental change in the concept of library automation, the transition from unified library systems, managing print and electronic resources and basing on client-server architecture, to universal library service platforms with cloud storage.

The author analyses in detail the trends of the library technology market in the United States as the most developed and active market, as well as in Europe and Latin America. The article draws attention to the companies — leaders in the competitive struggle in the market of library technologies. The author concludes that reorientation to network technologies means for libraries, on one hand, increase of efficiency, access to up-to-date online information, closer communication with users, reduction of non-core costs, and on the other hand, constant dependence on network service providers, whose set increases proportionally to the growing differentiation of the market, the maximum openness and partial de-specialisation, compensated by active participation in digital Humanities projects, and ultimately, loss of institutional autonomy.

The article considers web representations of libraries as important modern information channels through which the libraries operate in the virtual space. The author provides conceptual rationale for improving the operational efficiency of the current level of library web sites based on the data analysis of modern web analytics systems. The article studies the analytical potential of tools for optimizing web resources in the information environment, substantiates scientific and applied interest in the methods of assessment of library web site using the capabilities of analytical systems, analysed from three angles: evaluation of web resources by means of key indicators, assessment of goal achievement and evaluation by means of visual analytical maps. To solve the set tasks there were used analytical tools: Google Analytics, Yandex.Metrics. The author carried out the study to determine the goal achievement and relevance of the web site sections using the example of the State Public Scientific Technological Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GPNTB SB RAS) web site. To assess the efficiency of library web resources, it is important not only to obtain statistical data from analytical tools, but also to interpret them correctly. The article presents an attempt of qualitative assessment of some key performance indicators. Collection and analysis of webometric indicators of analytical tools are of practical value, being an impetus to action — reorganization of library web resources. Based on the data analysis of Yandex.Metrics visual heat maps, the corresponding changes have been made to the web site menu. The author conducted comparative analysis of the web site traffic data before and after the changes made. The study concluded that the use of modern analytical tools in the web site management has positive dynamics for its development on the web environment. The results of the use of modern analytical tools for evaluation of library sites demonstrate the importance of their use in analysis of the efficiency of library in the virtual space, which, in turn, will have a positive impact on improving the image and competitiveness in the information and library sphere as a whole.

The article considers the reading activity and book priorities of students of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II in 1904—1912. The author studied the readers’ interest using the analysis of student questionnaires and library loan books of the early twentieth century, as well as reports on the activities of the Institute and memoirs of students and teachers. The fundamental library was created at the establishment of the technical University in 1898. Professors and students used loan services and reading room of the Institute library. Since 1905, the library began to keep statistical records of the loan books and magazines. The article presents the data on the loan books and magazines in 1905—1909. Requests for reading of books significantly exceeded the library’s capacity, so students independently organized the library-reading room, where the books and magazines were purchased taking into account the needs of students. The work of the student library was aimed to help students in solving problems of cultural leisure and intellectual self-improvement; especially young people in extremely difficult financial situation were in urgent need of loan services. The most popular among students were books about history, love and travel. Politically active young people were interested in literature on philosophy, theology, economics, and to a lesser extent, on specialized technical subjects. To better characterize the reading activity of students, it is important to understand their social status, which largely determines the worldview and aesthetic interests of young people. The author presents statistical data on the social and education status of students of the Institute for 1905 and 1907. In the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, in comparison with the capital’s technical universities, there were many Jewish students actively participated in the anti-government movement. They preferred to read literature on social, legal and philosophical issues, including illegal ones. Priorities in choosing genres and authors of works in many ways help modern researchers to understand the literary interests and worldview of young students of the early twentieth century, as well as to recreate the socio-cultural portrait of pre-revolutionary students.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the contribution of the famous Russian scientist V.S. Kreidenko (1930—2019) to the library science. The author presents Kreidenko’s biography: Batumi; education at the Leningrad State Library Institute (LSLI) named after N.K. Krupskaya; work in the Beslan District Library, the North Ossetian Republican Library named after S.M. Kirov in Ordzhonikidze; post-graduate studies at LSLI named after N.K. Krupskaya; defence of the dissertation thesis “Acquisition of libraries in multinational republics and regions with publications in the languages of the peoples of the USSR”; activities at the East Siberian State Institute of Culture, in Leningrad at the State Institute of Culture named after N.K. Krupskaya; defence of the doctoral dissertation “Research methods in library science: current state and ways to improve efficiency”.

Themes of V.S. Kreidenko’s publications: servicing users, including in multi-ethnic regions, methods of library research, library local history, home libraries, teaching library disciplines, personalia.

The author notes exceptional goodwill, decency, ability to overcome difficulties and other personal qualities of Kreidenko.

Study of the history of particular libraries is the important trend of modern domestic and foreign research works, since it contributes to the solution of not only scientific, but also local history and education tasks. Due to the lack of complex research studies on the history of library of the “Society for Mutual Assistance of Salesmen in Tomsk”, this article for the first time considers in detail the activities of library for all twenty years — from its establishment to closure. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the history of the Society’s library, including its structure, collections, functioning and future destiny.

The author collected the data from a wide range of historical sources: the Charter and reports of the Society for the entire period of its existence, anniversary historical essays summarizing the results of 10—20 years of its activity, the printed catalogue of the library, the pre-revolutionary magazine “Bibliotekar” [Librarian]. Information contained in one of them is confirmed directly or indirectly in the other. All this makes it possible to characterize the source base as sufficiently complete and representative.

The principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency formed the methodological basis of the research. The article uses the methods of comparative analysis, statistical, chronological and source studies.

The article reveals the dependence of the amount of allocations for the library on the financing of other activities of the Society. For the first time, the author compiled the rating of writers among the library’s users, which was headed by both classic writers and authors who are almost forgotten today. The article reconstructs the repertoire of periodicals that were available in the collections.

The obtained results reveal the close interrelation and interdependence of all indicators of the library’s activity, including the time of its operation, the amount of financing, the number of users, visits, titles of books and periodicals. This study expands the idea of public initiative in the arrangement of libraries in pre-revolutionary Siberia, the demand for these cultural institutions among the lower strata of Siberian society and their reader’s preferences.

This work presents an analysis of the geographical representation of IFLA’s Governing Board members over the past 19 years to identify regions and countries with and / or without the presence in IFLA’s unit responsible for its governance, financial and professional management bodies. This study with IFLA’s most important management unit can help to understand how the knowledge, culture, and experience of different regions of the world have been considered, valued and respected at IFLA. In order to map the participation of the regions, data from each IFLA Governing Board member from Africa, Asia and Oceania, and Latin America and Caribbean during the period from 2001 to 2019 was collected from IFLA Annual Reports (available online) and analysed using the Excel software with the Pivot Table resource. The original publication also includes information about the Governing Board members from Europe and North America. All the members of GB and their nationalities were considered in 9 periods of two-year terms of management, which totalized 186 members from 36 countries. These total members correspond to 105 individuals, of which 41,9% participated in only one term, 45,7% were elected for two terms, 7,6% for three terms and 4,8% for more than four terms. In terms of regional representation, Europe contributes 46% of the GB members, followed by North America with 29%, Asia & Oceania with 11% Africa with 10% and finally LAC with 4%. At the end some reflections are presented on possible strategies to achieve a balance in the composition of the main managing body of the most important library federation in the world.

The purpose of the article is to summarize the information on the state of collections of ancient and rare books in the library institutions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by the beginning of the 21st century, to consider the content and the course of implementation of the state programs of the PRC in the field of registration, cataloguing, conservation, restoration, preservation and promotion of the national book heritage monuments. The author presents definitions of the terms “Ancient books” and “Rare books” used in China. All manuscript books and printed publications created before 1912 are considered Ancient books. Rare books include all books dated back to the period before 1795 and editions published in 1796—1912 that have outstanding historical, cultural, art and aesthetic value, as well as publishing products and documents from the period of the Republic of China (1912—1949). Chinese publications often use the term “Rare ancient books”, which refers to all manuscript books and printed publications before 1795. There are about 27 million 175 thousand copies of ancient books in the country’s libraries, including 2,5 million books created before 1795; and about 45 thousand ancient books have been preserved in a single copy.

The article focuses on the programs developed with the participation of the National Library of China (NLC) and approved by the PRC Government in 2007—2018. The author reveals the main provisions of the “National Plan for Preservation of Ancient Books” (2007), as well as the powers and tasks of the National Centre for Conservation and Preservation of Ancient Chinese Books (NC), which has become the lead agency responsible for the implementation of the Plan. The paper considers the system of regional and local centres for the conservation and restoration of ancient and rare books, headed by the NC, that has developed in the PRC at present, shows the role of these centres in the field of identification, registration and cataloguing of book heritage monuments, in the creation and maintenance of a normative storage regime in old library buildings, ensuring the activities of restoration workshops, digitization of documents, preparation and online publication of full-text databases of ancient and rare books. The article emphasizes the importance of the National Museum of Classical Books, opened in July 2014 at the NLC, for promoting the national book heritage.

The author notes that the priority task for the coming years is the construction of three new buildings of the National Book Depository in Beijing and Chéngdé (Hebei Province). The article concludes that over the past ten years, owing to the government support and targeted funding, China has managed to organize systematic activities in the field of conservation, preservation and promotion of the national book heritage.

The article describes the work of the 7th All-Russian Forum of Public Libraries “Municipal Libraries of New Generation: The Regional View”, which was held on November 15—16, 2019 in St. Petersburg. It became the main library platform of the 8th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. The organizers of the Forum were the National Library of Russia (NLR) and the Russian State Library (RSL) with the participation of the Russian Library Association (RLA). The Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg and the Mayakovsky Central City Public Library, Leningrad Regional Universal Scientific Library and St. Petersburg Library Society made significant contribution to the organization of the Forum.

The Forum of public libraries considered the first results of implementation of the National project “Culture” in the field of creating the model libraries of the new generation. The author reveals the content of the main events of the Forum — the plenary session and round tables devoted to the specific features of working with readers and book collections: “Municipal libraries of new generation: exchange of experience and ideas”, “The Year of Daniil Granin in public libraries in Russia”, “Public library in civil society”. The article reflects the main ideas of presentations by specialists of various levels — from federal to municipal. The author shows the place of model libraries in the system of public municipal libraries, summarizes the first results of competitions among the municipal libraries of the country, as well as describes the characteristics of unresolved issues and identifies the main problems and directions of modernization of libraries. The article raises the question on the place of model libraries in the network of municipal libraries in the country. The article presents the final document of the Forum with appeal to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, to the RSL, the NLR and the RLA, as well as to the state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local authorities, central libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation, municipal libraries together with project offices of the subjects of the Russian Federation and model libraries of new generation.

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