Det ryska barnbibliotekets roll och överlevnad i dagens Ryssland
En fältundersökning på barnbiblioteket i Pskov
RysslandBarnbibliotekBibliotekens rollDocumentationInformationLibrary scienceArchivisticsArkiv- och bibliotekskunskapDokumentationSocial Sciences
In an international perspective the Russian children s library is a unique institution, being solely committed to children up to 14 years of age. In Russia of today it is, however, being exposed to hard pressure as the economical and social conditions have changed dramatically since the collapse of the USSR. My interest lies in examining this change of living conditions for the children s libraries and how this in turn affect their work and role in the present state. In order to view this change in a longer perspective, I compare the situation for children s libraries during the time of communist regime with that of today using documents about and from children s libraries. I have studied its legal position and conditions, financial and political state, and how the modern society affects children and youth, especially their daily cultural life. The main part of my study consists of a field study of librarians at the Pskov regional children s library, where I interviewed several librarians in Russian. My results show a professional group that has been exposed to the winds of change. The earlier Soviet-style way of working, with a strong emphasis on collective work and a directing and fostering attitude towards the children, has changed into an individual, informative style where librarians assist children and youth with their school work. Furthermore, the conditions for the library and librarians have changed from financial and ideological stability to an insecure life in a capitalistic but non-totalitarian - society. As a result of the lack of financial support from the state and region, the library has to work more independently and look for other sources of income. Here, George Soros Open Society foundation has been instrumental. Today, the main problem is that the children s libraries are forced to support to the equally poor educational system. This undesired role prevents the children s libraries from working with their core assignment: to support the children s cultural development with the help of literature.