European Experience in Organization of Military Libraries in the Russian Empire

Abstract

Due to the lack of comprehensive research in the area of use of the experience of military libraries in Europe, the article for the first time examines the ways of studying it and the forms of implementation when establishing military libraries in the Russian Empire. The purpose of the study is to identify the influence of Europe on the military librarianship in Russia.The author collected data from dozens of pre-revolutionary publications, articles from the military periodical press and regulatory documents that allowed to characterize the source base of the study as representative.The article presents the history of military libraries of European states. The results of research show that the main ways to obtain information about them were: the study of foreign military literature and the military periodical press; analysis of regulatory and legal documents (statutes, rules, manuals, regulations, catalogues) regulating the activities of these libraries; foreign business trips of officers and generals in order to familiarize themselves with the structure and functioning of foreign armies and their libraries; reports of Russian military agents; participation in international exhibitions of books and textbooks.The author revealed dozens of articles indicating that the experience of creating and operating of military libraries abroad was widely covered in the Russian military periodical press. The military Department of Russia closely followed these processes, adopting and implementing the best and useful of them taking into account Russian realities. The study of the creation of military libraries in Europe became a prerequisite for their organization in Russia. The European experience was reflected in the ways of budgeting and acquisition, in the forms of management and supervision over them, the formation of regulatory framework and in the variety of their types.The conducted research expanded the understanding of the state of military librarianship in European countries, about the ways of studying their experience by the Russian military Department and the forms of its practical application in the structure of military libraries of the Russian Empire.