"We are united by love for books"

More than a month has passed since the fire in the INION RAS building . During this time, a lot was done - and most importantly, work in emergency conditions was established . In the very first days after access to the injured storage sections , the institute’s employees appreciated the scale of the tragedy. It turned out that the complex part of the INION RAS Foundation amounted to 2.32 million copies, or 15.7% of the total . These are books and documents that will be difficult to find in Russia, but they have electronic copies or are stored in the libraries of the world. The proposals for assistance in replenishing funds to the institute have already received from all over the world - from Germany, Spain, New Zealand and other countries.

For several weeks in the INION building, volunteers worked , who helped the institute’s employees pack books and newspapers that were not injured from the fire, and send to temporary storage places . Now the library has begun the analysis of the “wet fund”, almost 3 million books and magazines are waiting for evacuation . The organization of packaging books and their removal is carried out by a specialized contractor without involving volunteers. More than 80 tons of wet literature have already been taken out . But the help of volunteers was needed last Saturday on the unpacking of exported newspapers and magazines in Lyubertsy . The coordinator of the volunteer headquarters , Art .​​​​​​​ scientific. sore. Department of History of INION RAS Zoya Metlitskaya . Valentina Efremova talked .

- Zoya , you are known as the coordinate of the volunteers . Why are you causing to work directly in the building and with books ?

- I am a historian by specialty, and, probably, any historian knows what value the books are of. Even what now it seems to us unimportant, unnecessary, empty-some female novels or decisions of the congress of collective farmers-after decades or centuries later, will become a valuable source that will allow researchers to understand and comprehend our era and us, see and trace the connection of times. In addition, I just love books, they are almost animated creatures for me, since particles of souls of those who wrote them, published and read with love live in them. In general, the very thought that books could die. And I really wanted to do something ...

- What impressions did you have for three weeks of work ?

- The impressions are the most positive. Firstly, the results of our efforts are visible, almost the entire “dry fund” has already been exported, that is, books and other publications that have remained more or less dry and do not need additional “treatment”. Although there is still a lot of work. Secondly, I happened to work with wonderful selfless people, the INION library officers who accepted me and, despite the critical situation, found the strength and time to explain and show me new things for me. Well, thirdly, acquaintance with our volunteers, whom I am immensely grateful for help. In my opinion, we have a beautiful team.

- How is Ionon to attract the feces of volunteers ? Were there organizing groups ?​ Which ?

- The main tool for attracting volunteers and disseminating information was social networks. We have a special group “INION RAS. Help in the elimination of the consequences of the fire on Facebook, many of its participants make repost on other networks - Twitter, VKontakte. The fact that the appeal to the volunteers was widespread in the coordination of the institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences and published on the Saveras.ru website was also very helpful to us. Organized groups also came - students of the RSUSU and the Academy of Public Service.

- What is the age of volunteers ?

- The age is the most different - from 16 to 70 years.

- What , in your opinion , is the motivorov of the volunteers to participate in the evacuation of funds ? Have there been a Tatel and regular users of the INION library among them ?

- Probably, all the volunteers were united by the love of books and the feeling that the death of the library, the books burned or killed from the water - this is something wrong, the symbol of a certain evil that should not be. Many were regular readers in the INION library, others once visited us, wrote a diploma or dissertation and still remember this time with warmth. And, of course, our colleagues from other academic institutions, sympathizing with our trouble and ready to support us.

- What did you need to know the volunteer , before going to rescue work in INION ?

- Nothing special, in general, was not necessary, the work was not very difficult, we explained and showed everything necessary. The only thing that had to be taken into account was the building smelled very much in the building. We gave each volunteer a respirator, but still people with allergies or asthma should be careful.

- What work did the streams of the Bes do ? Were they divided into any groups ?​​​

- We worked in three shifts: from 9:00, from 13:00 and from 18:00. I met the assembled group of volunteers and escorted into the building (you can get into the territory only with the accompanying person). A special room was allocated for us where it was possible to change clothes and leave things. After everyone put on robes and overalls, gloves and respirators, people went to different areas. The main work of men was to make ready -made boxes with books. The girls had more diverse classes: one group glued empty boxes, the other folded books from the shelves in them, the third sealed already filled ... After working with books, they began to evacuate newspapers and magazines. We packed them in plastic bags and sealed them. If water fell on any publications during the extinguishing of a fire, then they were sent to dry.

- What are the main problems of Nicky when working with volunteers ?

-In my opinion, communication remains the main problem. Social networks are a rather capricious environment, an important post can sometimes get lost in an unknown way ... Writing personal messages is more reliable, but such a correspondence takes time. As a result, I, having come home from work, answered people around midnight, someone was sleeping at that time. We are now trying to find the optimal form with joint efforts, I hope that it will turn out.

For certificates , whether assistance in the Loneter headquarters of the INION RAS is needed , about the Zoe Metlitskaya by electric mail : cerdic@yandex.ru .