Тraditional values and book culture

Abstract

The draft Presidential Decree on the fundamentals of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, put out by Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage in January 2022, for public consideration, was analyzed. Based on the ancient cult of the book as a sacred revelation, the book culture is understood as a creative and communication activity of human society carried out in the book form through symbols. In the history of Russian civilization, the book culture has acquired the status of traditional national value and productive force that ensures the development of material, spiritual and humanistic culture. The technocratic society of the twentieth century is at risk of self-destruction. Risks such as environmental crisis (environmental pollution, climate change), biological mutations (viral pandemic, genetic degradation), technological accidents (computer program failure, nuclear facility collapse), geopolitical follies (arms race, terrorism, aggressive globalization, loss of national identity and sovereignty, genocide, fanaticism), and many other anthropogenic threats have acquired global proportions. Successful opposition to dangerous technogenic risks is possible only if we rely on the humanistic book and library traditions. The conclusion is made on the expediency of the need to develop a scientifically and practically sound state strategy for humanistic book culture in modern Russia.