The appeal of scientists in connection with the merger of the RSB and RND

Eighteen Russian philologists and historians made an appeal to the educational, scientific and library community in connection with plans for the merger of the Russian State Library (RSL) and the Russian National Library (RND).

The libraries are offered to unite their leaders Vladimir Gnezdilov and Alexander Visly, the initiative was supported by the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky.

Colta.ru gives scientists completely:

About the threat of merging and acquisition of libraries

Appeal to the educational, scientific and library community

Bureaucracy needs great reforms, we need normal libraries - district, university, nationwide. Readers need constantly working, rather than constantly reformed and abbreviated library centers. The country's libraries are a cultural value, the tradition of which we, readers, are called to support, is a scientific and educational community.

No intelligible work program has yet been presented in the conditions of reform, but there are already projects for moving library collections to city outskirts and beyond the city, and a plan for uniting libraries-the Russian State Library (Moscow) and the Russian National Library (St. Petersburg)-based on the personal union of two managers, is confirmed. The main reason is the principle of lower necessary costs: for example, for the purchase of one set of books instead of two for each library by separately and the creation of one huge catalog instead of two.

It does not make sense to discuss the items proposed by the bureaucratic agenda from the point of view of the logic and tasks of the development of libraries and the interests of readers. It is not so valuable for readers, one or two legal entities will be preserved when performing a meaningless and probably costly project of merger and acquisition, it is important that the libraries are lost historical originality and uniqueness, their face. In addition, for the period of reconstruction, readers run the risk of losing even the current working conditions: the availability of electronic orders and the terms of issuance will clearly suffer, and the continuation of the fund is planned to reduce the number of mandatory copies.

The struggle of the bureaucracy for owning real estate are already undergoing, and further sudden innovations, movements, mergers and acquisitions of centers and cultural institutions are designed to serve as covering these goals. The protest is already caused by the fact that such ministerial initiatives in our country are in principle possible, and without preliminary consultations and accounting of the opinions of specialists.

The central convenient locations and historical buildings of libraries have, in addition to the market value, the role of symbolic capital, and the libraries should not lose this value, since they dispose of it for the benefit of society. It is necessary and justified to provide libraries with new areas near the main storage, and not the continuation of the policy of the links of funds and readers to the outskirts. As a result of this policy, only an additional argument appears against the support of the libraries: the small number of readers. Actually, these actions are aimed at reducing the number of competent specialists remaining in their homeland: both professional librarians and bibliographers, as well as researchers and scientists.

As for the idea of ​​the greatness and size of the library, the size of the object in meters and kilometers in the modern world decides almost nothing. The task is not to stretch the library structures by 700 km, not to attribute the library catalog to two cities - but to enter libraries into the global scientific community - Russian and world, to provide, on the one hand, convenient access to our book collections from different points of the world, and, on the other hand, access to world modern electronic resources and bases for remotely working readers (both Russian provincial and foreigner and foreigners specialists who value and study Russian meetings).

This activity should not replace the specific work of libraries with a real qualified reader physically present in reading rooms. Such a need for personal presence in funds and work with originals has, first of all, among humanities, textologists, historians and philologists, who, in the course of irresponsible experiments of bureaucracy, simply deprived of the opportunity to fulfill their professional functions.

The integration of the library and scientific communities - reasonable and necessary forms of association, which do not require either large -scale administrative rearrangements or large costs. The consensus of these two communities is necessary when discussing and conducting reforms. “Bureaucratic revolutions”, unprepared, but ambitious initiatives, the merger and absorption of libraries, on the contrary, at any level of costs, cannot contribute to the improvement of library business in Russia and meet the modern needs of the country's education and science.

• Chudakova Marietta Omarovna, Doctor of Philology, Member of the European Academy, Professor of the Literary Institute
• Kasatkina Tatyana Aleksandrovna, Doctor of Philology, Head of the Department of Literature Theory of the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Commission for the Study of Creative Heritage F.M. Dostoevsky Scientific Council "History of World Culture" of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Staph Irina Karlovna, candidate of philological sciences, translator, twice laureate of the award named after M. Vaxmamer
• Surat Irina Zakharovna, Doctor of Philology, Leading Researcher at the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Huseynov Gasan Gingizovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor NIU HSE.
• Selunskaya Nadezhda Andreevna, historian, candidate of historical sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Lifshitz Alexander Lvovich, candidate of philological sciences, senior researcher at the Higher School of Economics, head of the department of rare books and manuscripts of the scientific library of Moscow State University
• Assumption Fedor Borisovich, philologist, member. RAS, Deputy Director of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Litvina Anna Feliksovna, philologist, candidate of philological sciences, leading researcher at the Higher School
• Kravetsky Alexander Gennadievich, candidate of philological sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of the Russian Language named after V.V. Vinogradova RAS
• Vdovichenko Andrey Viktorovich, Doctor of Philology, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Butyrsky Mikhail Nikolaevich, senior researcher at the State Museum of Art of the Peoples of the East
• Pletneva Alexandra Andreevna, candidate of philological sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of the Russian Language named after V.V. Vinogradova RAS
• Lyubzhin Alexey Igorevich, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the University Dmitry Pozharsky
• Zykova Galina Vladimirovna, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University
• Shamin Stepan Mikhailovich, candidate of historical sciences, senior researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Makeev Mikhail Sergeevich, Doctor of Philology, Philology Faculty of Moscow State University
• Schoolnikova Olga Yuryevna, Doctor of Philology, Philology Faculty of Moscow State University