The History of Formation of the Japanese Collection in the National Library of Russia

The article introduces the history of the formation of the Japanese collection in the National Library of Russia. Materials in Japanese are available in various departments of the library; the article focuses on the largest collection of materials in Japanese, namely the Japanese collection of the Department of Asian and African Countries Literature (DAAСL). An attempt is made to briefly present two topics: firstly, the history of the Japanese collection and the department, and secondly, the history and sources of the acquisition and formation of the Japanese fund. Therefore, the article is divided into two sections. In both sections, the history of the DAAСL and the topic of international book exchange in the library are closely interconnected with the main topic of the article, the formation of the Japanese collection. The author also emphasizes the difficulties, negative factors and challenges faced by the fund and the library, not to underestimate the role of the Japanese collection of NLR, but to show what solutions were found throughout its history.

Books and Events: Trends, Projects, Achievements in the Light of the 34th Moscow International Book Fair

The leading event for the library and publishing sector — the 34th Moscow International Book Fair (MIBF) — took place on September 24—27, 2021 at the Central Exhibition Complex “Expocentre”. The forum was held in a “hybrid format”, foreign participants joined the events online. There were announced the winners of the National competition “Book of the Year — 2021” and the 9th Competition of the Russian Library Association “The Best Professional Book of the Year — 2021”.The business program of the MIBF contained sectoral conferences and round tables devoted to the insight of state of the book industry. The 2nd International Conference “The World Book Industry in new realities: new technologies, new challenges, new prospects”, the sectoral conference “The Russian Book Market — 2021”, the round table “Books in the city” took place at the Fair. The MIBF outlined the vectors of the development of modern culture, creative industries and creative entrepreneurship in the context of books; prospects for the development of new formats for the reorganization of territories and the formation of a stable local identity; intersection points of interests of citizens, local and federal authorities, business and cultural institutions. The article summed up the overall results of the MIBF.

Book Review: Literacy and Reading Programmes for Children and Young People

Patrick Lo has already made a significant name for himself in the area of children, young people, literacy, and libraries, not least through his imaginative and effective use of ethnographic approaches to research in the field. This two-volume publication presents interviews with over 40 librarians from around the world (19 different countries), a truly international book: just check out the forewords and the endorsements and the interviews, their range, variety, and provenance and also the background and experience of the four editors to confirm that fact.

On the History of the Holy Synod Library: The Sale of the Theological Part from the Book Collection to Germany in the 1930s

Статья посвящена судьбе богословской части библиотеки Святейшего Синода. Рассматривается вопрос продажи этого книжного собрания в Германию, прослеживается судьба русских книг после неудачи с проектом создания Института восточных церквей, а также показывается новое применение уникального для Германии книжного собрания на кафедре истории и богословия христианского Востока богословского факультета Университета им. Фридриха-Александра в Эрлангене. Главным источником исследования являются архивные материалы организации, поддерживающей деятельность лютеранских общин в диаспоре, - «Мартин Лютер Бунд» в Эрлангене, а именно переписка с «Международной книгой» как на немецком, так и на русском языках. По итогам работы с документами автор полностью описывает судьбу богословских книг библиотеки Священного Синода от начала 30-х гг. XX в. до настоящего времени. The article is devoted to a destiny of the theological part of the Holy Synod Library. The author considers an issue of selling this book collection to Germany, tracing the fate of Russian books after the failure of establishing the Institute of Oriental Churches, and also shows the use of the book collection, unique for Germany, at the Department of History and Theology of the Christian East of the Theological Faculty of the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen. The main source of the research is the archival materials of the organization Martin-Luther-Bund in Erlangen, supporting activities of the Lutheran communities in the diaspora, in particular, the correspondence with the «International Book» in both German and Russian has been considered. Based on the results of his work with the documents, the author fully describes the fate of theological books of the Holy Synod Library from the beginning of the 1930s to this day.

‘Seeing everything in a new light’: Edinburgh International Book and Arts Festival Diary 2020

A personal review of the 2020 Edinburgh International Festivals, much reduced and mostly online due to Covid-19.

National Digital Book Platform in the Discourse of the National Bibliography: Some Results of the 33rd Moscow International Book Fair

The Coronavirus crisis of 2020 has seriously changed the state of the book industry around the world, including the technological aspect of industry interaction. Revision of the publishing policy and optimization of internal resources become inevitable. Digitalization of the book market and growth of sales through Internet channels has speeded up radically. Both publishers and libraries are significantly increasing their presence on the Internet and working to develop a variety of educational online services. Electronic library book has become more popular, and the number of requests to the National electronic library has increased. During this period, the professional community has an updated request to create National digital book platform that can unite book industry entities, among which libraries are the key link. Development of this initiative received a new impetus at the 33rd Moscow International Book Fair, held on September 2—6, 2020 in the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. V.V. Duda, General Director of the Russian State Library, notes that the idea of creating the National Bibliography of Russia should be the basis of the technological development of the project.