Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library

(named for M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin), located in Leningrad. Oldest generally accessible, universal library in the country. Second only to the Lenin State Library of the USSR in the richness of its collections and the number of seats available to readers. One of the major libraries of the world. Founded in 1795 and opened as a public library on Jan. 2 (14), 1814.

The library’s complex of buildings includes the old building in the classical style (1796–1801; architect, E. T. Sokolov) with the so-called Gothic Hall (1857; architect, I. I. Gornostaev; assisted by V. I. Sobol’shchikov); included in the ensemble on Ostrovskii Square is the main building in the Empire style (1828–32; architect, K. I. Rossi; sculpture on the facades by S. S. Pimenov, V. I. Demut-Malinovskii, and others) and the reading-room building in the courtyard (1896–1901; architect, E. S. Vorotilov).

Since 1811 the library has received free, mandatory deposit copies of the Russian press—a fact that facilitated the acquisition of the most complete collection of 19th-century Russian books and periodical publications in the world. By 1914 the library’s collections numbered more than 3 million newspapers and periodicals. The library was used by V. G. Belinskii, N. A. Nekrasov, N. A. Dobroliubov, L. N. Tolstoy, N. I. Pirogov, D. I. Mendeleev, I. P. Pavlov, M. Gorky, G. V. Plekhanov, N. K. Krupskaia, and many others. Between 1893 and 1895, V. I. Lenin was a constant reader at the library. During the early days of the October Revolution, Lenin wrote his proposals on the reform of the work of the public library, especially on the immediate organization of library book exchange within the country as well as with foreign libraries (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 35, p. 132). In 1932 the library was named for M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, and in 1939, in connection with its 125th anniversary, it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

As of Jan. 1, 1970, the library’s collections amounted to more than 16.9 million items, including over 1,104,000 items in the languages of the peoples of the USSR. The library keeps the collection known as the Free Russian Press (revolutionary publications that were issued from 1853 through 1917, either abroad or underground in Russia), complete sets of Kolokol, publications of the populist organizations Land and Liberty, Chernyi peredel (Black Partition), and People’s Will, as well as those of the Marxist group Liberation of Labor; sets of the newspapers Iskra, Vpered, and Proletarii; the journal Zaria; and others. The rare book collections contain first editions of the works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, the personal library of Voltaire (approximately 7,000 volumes), and 4,000 incunabula. The foreign collection has the Rossica (foreign books about Russia), which is unique for its completeness, as well as translations of Russian works into foreign languages. The collection of French books, periodical publications, and leaflets from the period of the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune is very valuable. The library’s collection of manuscripts (more than 300,000), including monuments of written language on stone tablets, tree bark, papyrus, parchment, silk, and other materials, is very famous. Preserved in this collection are the first dated work written in the Russian language, the Ostromir Gospel (1056–57); the oldest copy of the Nestorian Chronicle (1377); manuscript books of the 11th and 12th centuries; papers and autographs of Peter I the Great, A. V. Suvorov, M. I. Kutuzov, G. R. Derzhavin, M. Iu. Lermontov, L. N. Tolstoy, M. I. Glinka, M. P. Mussorgsky, J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven, and others; and the archive of G. V. Plekhanov. The library has more than 112,000 domestic and foreign geographical maps, astronomical charts, plans, and atlases dating back as far as the 15th century. In the music collection there are 245,000 volumes and notebooks of works by Russian and foreign composers. There is a special collection of prints (more than 675,000 individual prints and albums).

In 1969 the library conducted book exchanges with 2,710 organizations in 101 countries. The library has 28 reading rooms, specialized according to branches of knowledge as well as kinds of publications; it also has reference and bibliographical stations and a central reference library. Under Soviet power the number of visits to the library’s reading rooms has increased fivefold. (In 1969 there were over 2 million visits to the reading rooms.) The library publishes information bulletins on recent acquisitions, in addition to catalogs that reveal the richness of the library’s collections. The library carries on a great deal of scholarly, methodological, and scientific research work in the field of library science and bibliography, as well as the history of books. The Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library gives methodological assistance to popular libraries in the RSFSR, publishes bibliographical aids for various categories of readers, publishes methodological collections, and so forth.