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What problems is the director of the Russian National Library, Anton Likhomanov, hiding? Anton Likhomanov. "I believe in the future of libraries!"

Anton Vladimirovich Likhomanov(b. September 16, 1964, Leningrad) - Russian library worker, from January 20, 2011 to January 19, 2016 - General Director of the Russian National Library, historian.

Biography

He began working at the Russian National Library in 1981 as a librarian. In 1987-1990 at Komsomol work. In 1990 he graduated from the Faculty of History of Leningrad State University.

Since 1990, again at the Russian National Library: Deputy Director for Administrative and Economic Work, Head of the Department of Funds and Services, Deputy general director. After the death of V.N. Zaitsev from October 2010 - and. O. General Director On January 20, 2011, he was appointed General Director of the Russian National Library. On January 19, 2016, he left his post due to the expiration of his employment contract.

Candidate of Historical Sciences.

Major works

Newspaper "Russia" in 1905-1906. : (History of the emergence of Stolypin officialdom) // Book business in Russia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. - L., 1990. - P. 46-55.
The question of foreign language publications at the Special Meeting on drawing up a new charter on the press (1905) // Book business in Russia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. - St. Petersburg, 1992. - Issue. 6. - pp. 56-63.
I. Ya. Gurlyand and the Jewish question in Russia // Bulletin of the Jewish University in Moscow. - M.; Jerusalem, 1993. - No. 4. - P. 142-153.
The autocracy's struggle for public opinion in 1905-1907 - St. Petersburg, 1997. - 133, p. - ISBN 5-7196-0982-2.
How to ensure library security. - M., 2002. - 112 p.

Countering the ideology of terrorism and libraries. - M., 2005. - 112 p.
Special meeting on drawing up a new charter on the press in 1905: personnel // Censorship in Russia. - St. Petersburg, 2005. - Issue. 2. - pp. 35-69.
Dmitry Fomich Kobeko // History of the library in the biographies of its directors, 1795-2005. - St. Petersburg, 2006. - P. 194-211. - ISBN 5-8192-0263-5.
Development of press legislation in Russia and France at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries: comparative analysis// Proceedings of the Department of History of Modern and Contemporary Times. - St. Petersburg, 2007. - No. 1. - P. 78-90.

Literature

Who's who in the library and information world of Russia and the CIS. - 5th ed. - M., 2001. - T. 1. - P. 395. - ISBN 5-85638-019-3.

05/03/2015

49 days ago we sent a request to the General Director of the Russian National Library A.V. Likhomanov (pictured left) with a request to answer the editor’s questions. Not 7, not 30, but 49 days have passed, and there has been no response from General Director A.V. Likhomanov. was not received by the editor. This means only one thing: there is nothing to answer not only regarding the solution of specific, long-standing problems, but also regarding the prospects for the development of the National Library of Russia.

E It can also be stated that this official violated the law of the Russian Federation “On the Mass Media” (according to Article 40 of which a response must be provided to the editorial office within 7 days) and the law of the Russian Federation “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” (according to Article 12 of this law, a written appeal is considered within 30 days from day of registration). To end with legal aspects, let me remind you that the National Library of Russia is a federal state budgetary institution, i.e. is subject to all of these laws. Naturally, such disregard for the law will entail consequences provided for by law.

But here are the questions I wanted to get an answer from Anton Likhomanov:

Commissioning of the second stage of the new building of the Russian National Library on Moskovsky Prospekt, prospects, timing;

Reducing the number of employees to increase the income of those left behind, facts;

Creation of a domestic Wikipedia, main parameters of the project, goal, deadlines;

Prospects and timing for electronic ordering of documents stored in the main building;

Work on the Primo electronic catalogue, problems with its performance and deadline for completing work on it, how many people are working on correcting errors and filling gaps?

I think that Anton Likhomanov understands: general words will not suit me, I know the situation in the library too well. In other words, the very first and most important problem of a library is its management. If A. Likhomanov does not even respond to a written appeal, demonstratively violating two laws of the Russian Federation at once, it means that he does not even want to admit and loudly declare the existence of problems with the National Security Service. And if problems are hidden and not made public, then they are not being solved.

This means that with the same Primo electronic catalog, things are just as bad as in the summer of 2014. The electronic catalog of the Russian Magazine Fund is poorly made, and no one is working to bring it to fruition. It is not even possible to find out when the second phase of the new building will be put into operation, which would make it possible to connect the disconnected collections of the Russian Magazine Fund in the new building, temporarily move the manuscript department in its place, and begin renovations in the manuscript department premises.

I would like to note - especially for the leadership of the National Library of Russia - that I do not invent these problems or collect them “from the outside,” but as a regular and active reader of the library, I myself encounter problems all the time.

A whole range of problems are associated with the reduction of employees, and I feel the results of this as a reader. For example, in March 2014, the Russian National Library opened an exhibition of books donated to our library by the House of Russian Abroad. Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was a very valuable and generous gift. Personally, I urgently needed one book from this exhibition: the author is the American literary critic V. Alexandrova, the book is called “Literature and Life: Essays on Soviet Social Development until the End of the Second World War” ( New York, 1969). I ordered it because the books were on display at the exhibition with a code, but it turned out that it had not yet been processed and was not issued to the hall, and the employees of the processing department kindly offered me to read the book in their department, for which I was grateful to them. And it won’t be issued soon, they warned me. Well, I’ll read autumn more carefully, I thought.

A year has passed - the book is listed in the Primo electronic catalog without a code and is still not issued, it has not yet been processed, just as, obviously, all the other books from this exhibition have not been processed, which means one thing: the Russian National Library has not established reasonable deadlines for processing books and There are not enough personnel to quickly process incoming books. The book is there and it is not.

And staff reductions are underway - in any case, that’s all everyone in the library is talking about. But it is impossible to find out the real situation from the management of the National Library of Russia regarding the implementation of these “publicly significant functions” (PVF).

There are persistent rumors that the deputy. General Director for Library Work Elena Tikhonova decided to lay off all employees of the information and bibliographic department and liquidate the department itself. Supposedly there will be certification soon, not everyone will be certified, and the issue will be resolved automatically.

I don’t really believe in this, but Tikhonova herself also considered it inappropriate for herself to answer my questions, so I am discussing this topic as a probable hypothesis. If this happens, then we can talk about direct sabotage. Because of all the “publicly significant functions,” the most important and most public is direct communication between the reader and the bibliographer. It's not about learning how to use catalogs, it's about the search methodology itself necessary books and articles. No one will teach at the National Library except a bibliographer. Employees who issue books at collection points do not have the appropriate professional competence. In addition, the Russian National Library has a lot of card and electronic catalogs; you also need to know which one to look in. The existence of bibliographers who advise readers is a long-standing and unique feature of the Russian National Library, and losing it simply because it is necessary to reduce the number of employees to save wages is a crime against culture.

Talking about how “bibliographers are not needed because now there is the Internet” is nonsense. The Internet does not replace the bibliographer, if only because the NLR is an independent complex machine for scientific research, like the hadron collider. The National Library itself does not prepare instructions for using the library as a “knowledge machine”. Therefore, readers learn how to use the National Library of Russia not on the Internet, but from bibliographers.

Another example. The foreign magazine collection was almost completely moved to the new building. But the service catalog of this fund was either forgotten, or left in the old building, and the premises were locked. Whether anyone uses it or not is unknown. An incomplete reader's card catalog was installed in the new building. It was impossible to use it then, and now. There is also an electronic catalog of this fund on the RNL website, but there is never complete confidence that it fully reflects the IZhF service card catalog. Employees are afraid that the unique service catalog of IZhF will simply be burned during the renovation of the premises.

And the IJF electronic catalog works something like this. You look, for example, for Nation magazine from 1967. You can’t find it. Then you discover that you have to write The Nation, i.e. with article. I write the name with the article in the request. Judging by the responses received, after 1917 the journal was not received by the Russian National Library, but this is not so. I know, and I have been using the National Library for 38 years, that some old foreign magazines with a serf code remained in the main building. At the same time, the reader’s catalog on The Nation card has an incorrect code, and the only reliable service catalog of the Foreign Magazine Fund is buried somewhere in the main building. Well, can all this be sorted out without a team of bibliographers?

Only the lazy do not criticize the Primo electronic catalogue. Just one example. I am looking for the book by Yuz Aleshkovsky “The Book of Last Words”. In the “author” column I write the author’s surname, in the “title” column - “Book of Last Words.” The search result is zero. There is no such book in the National Library of Russia. But I know who created the catalogue. Therefore, I remove the author’s surname and immediately receive a bibliographic description and code.

Dozens of similar examples can be given. Sometimes you need to remove the title, and if a book, God forbid, has two authors, then it’s better to search only by title, because the book is registered to only one of the two authors. Etc. In fact, it is necessary to reconcile the card general alphabetical catalog and the electronic catalog with the Primo electronic catalog, because at some point - no one can name it exactly - cards stopped being poured into the card catalog, only into the electronic OPAC, and then only into Primo , and it is absolutely known that not all records from the first two GAKs were included in the third. But for such work additional employees are needed.

Now about electronic library. Thanks to an order from Finland, the newspaper department of the National Library of Russia scanned the Literary Gazette for 1929-1960 several years ago. We didn’t do any further because it wasn’t ordered. Naturally, on the NLR website only “pictures” are given, without recognition, which the NLR does not do. Why - I haven’t been able to get an answer for many years. I suspect that it was simply because the leadership of the National Library of Russia did not understand and still does not understand what it is and why researchers need it.

By the way, the Russian National Library is now purchasing a subscription resource from some Moscow company remote access, it is called East view (IVIS) and includes the full texts of a large number Russian magazines and newspapers - in particular, “Pravda”, “Izvestia”, “Literaturnaya Gazeta” and a number of others, magazines “Questions of Literature”, “Questions of History”, etc. All texts are recognized, and there is a contextual search. This is a unique resource for which the Russian National Library now pays money (access for readers from the National Library buildings is free), but it could have received itself if it had done this, in general, simple work, having unique funds. It is no longer possible to imagine working in a library after trying this East view. About the same as losing the Internet.

And when, in the midst of all this chaos, the Russian National Library announces that it is starting to work on a “domestic Wikipedia,” and Likhomanov also explains that it is necessary because “Wikipedia is controlled from the United States,” then I want to ask: maybe before you start improving Wikipedia and start using the money allocated for this super mega-project, first making your own electronic catalogs normal? Not for the report, but for real, like an adult ?

Mikhail ZOLOTONOSOV

ABOUT priority areas work and development, about the future of librarianship in the country in the context of legislative reform, about the prospects of the Russian Library Association - the magazine "University BOOK" talks with the General Director of the Russian National Library, Anton Vladimirovich LIKHOMANOV.

Source: www.roedean.net

— Anton Vladimirovich, did the offer to head the library come as a surprise to you? Why do you think the management chose your candidacy?
— To be honest, it was not a surprise. Vladimir Nikolayevich Zaitsev repeatedly expressed the idea that I should replace him; I had a conversation about this at the Ministry of Culture back in September; in general, a change of leadership was planned. Another thing is that no one expected that Vladimir Nikolaevich would leave so suddenly. Why me? I think that what was taken into account, first of all, was my almost 30 years of experience in the library, including more than 20 years in various leadership positions. I know the structure of the library well, its features, problems, and people.

— On February 7, the official ceremony of introducing you as General Director took place, but it was more of a formality, because the team knows you very well. Has your attitude towards you changed? What are your colleagues asking about today?
- First of all, of course, congratulations. My purpose is also to trust the entire staff of the National Library, in which I grew up. Perhaps many library employees would come to a new, unknown person, offer something, tell them something, and bring them up to date. So far, no one has raised problematic or fundamental questions. The library works stably, but after a while these issues will arise.

— What areas of the library’s work do you consider priority today?
— It should be noted that during the 25 years that V.N. Zaitsev headed the Russian National Library, very serious changes took place in the library, as, indeed, in the entire library business. We are experiencing an information revolution and the introduction of new technologies. Today, the most important task for any library, and the National Library is no exception, is constant adaptation to work in conditions of widespread implementation and updating information technology. We must meet the expectations of our readers, users and change with them, otherwise there will simply be no need for a library, or only those people who need some manuscripts, rare books, etc. that have not yet been digitized will come to us . Therefore, one of the main tasks is to resolve issues related to automation and improvement of our electronic catalogue. Unfortunately, it is not ideal; not everyone can use it without prior preparation.

For quite some time now, many libraries have been using electronic ordering, which we do not yet have, and there is a great need for this service. It is necessary, in the largest possible volumes, to digitize publications and make them available to local and remote users, including rare documents and documents that are in constant demand (of course, in accordance with copyright law).

Of course, one of the most important tasks is the formation of the National Welfare Fund. Our financial capabilities here are limited, discussions and disputes arise about how best to spend the money, and we must strive to ensure that the documents we buy best meet the needs of our users.

The material and technical base of the library also needs updating, which, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired. A separate topic is the completion of the second stage of construction of our new building. Big problem is the safety of our funds. The Russian National Library has a Federal Center for the Conservation of Library Collections, its activities should be expanded, because the storage of publications is our responsibility, many publications require special climatic conditions, this is also an important area of work.

In short, we can end here, not counting such an important and painful topic as the preservation of the library staff, which is getting older, and young people, even if they come to the library, do not move up the career ladder and do not gain a foothold. We are now approaching the point that in some departments we simply do not have middle-aged employees.

— Regarding the construction of a new building, when is it planned to be completed, what services will be located there?
— Initially, a building with an area of 109 thousand square meters was designed. m, construction was divided into stages. The first stage was built from 1985 to 2002, it is about 62 thousand square meters. m, these are reading rooms and 36 storage facilities of the main fund. Now the second stage is under construction - these are 46 storage facilities and office premises with a total area of 49 thousand square meters. m. In fact, the building has been built, and now we are talking about equipping it. We have planned a very powerful data processing center that will allow us to store digitized publications in large quantities. There will be a modern automated targeted book delivery system; a number of departments are planned to be located in the building Federal Center conservation. But the most important thing is the reserve of space for placing literature. Now in a number of funds it is practically exhausted. We are forced to use part of the second-stage equipped storage facilities to store our books. In the future, we will move publications here from rented premises, and our other divisions will also have the opportunity for better placement. In general, this is a very serious reserve that we have been dreaming about all these years.

As for the completion date, it is currently 2013, but funding is not being provided in the volumes that are envisaged. I want to get together, optimize all expenses and make a breakthrough - complete the construction of this building. This will, in turn, allow the reconstruction of individual rooms in our main building.

— Recently, the topic of preserving electronic content has been actively discussed; many issues are related to the use of materials on outdated media. How will you solve this problem?
— We must understand that in the future we will have even more problems associated with reproducing data in different formats, rewriting them and making them available to readers. If we are talking about saving data, then today the most reliable option is microfilming, and then you can make electronic copies from the microfilm. As for electronic publications created in the National Library of Russia, these are basically publications that are not subject to copyright. The electronic library of the Russian National Library now contains 320 thousand documents. This is, for example, a set of pre-revolutionary legislation, various materials on the history of St. Petersburg, etc. All this is very interesting and is needed by specialists, but the general reader needs publications from the last decade. IN electronic form We cannot provide them; the law prohibits us from doing so. If we talk about the future of libraries, then the possibility of providing books in electronic form and delivering them via MBA is a very good prospect. If this does not happen, we will be left with only a paper copy and a very limited number of requested services for readers.

— As far as we know, interlibrary exchange of electronic copies is excluded from the draft amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. What is your general attitude towards these amendments? How, in your opinion, can relations with copyright holders be resolved?
— There is a certain contradiction here: it is mainly representatives of fiction. While people go to large libraries, first of all, for scientific and educational literature. They come to the library not to improve their general cultural level, but to complete some educational tasks - writing essays, coursework, diplomas, dissertations... Therefore, in my opinion, it would be primarily important if it was possible to digitize these resources, and not everything in general. And the possibility of providing them to regional libraries would potentially increase the popularity of the libraries themselves and “patch the hole” associated with the fact that many publications are published in small print runs and do not reach the regions. This would be very useful, and I think we will eventually come to this, and by infringing on the rights of libraries in this matter, we are harming our education and science. Nowadays, uncontrolled copying is already gaining momentum on the Internet, regardless of library services. Piracy has an extremely negative impact on the libraries themselves, and we must find some kind of compromise. But there is still some hope: the National Library Resource has been created, the RSL has a Copyright Office, and we must also actively join this process, both from the point of view of working with authors and copyright holders, and from the point of view defending the interests of our readers.

— Are you planning to create a department for working with authors, like in the RSL?
— I think there will be a need for this, because if all major libraries get involved in working with authors, then the volume of “legalized” resources that will be available to a wide range of readers throughout Russia will increase noticeably.

— How realistic is the National Library Resource project in solving these problems?
— The project is realistic if we abstract from the details. It is important that the state still allocates money to work with authors. If the legislative option does not work, then we must go through the creation of a civilized library resource, the state must pay authors for the use of their works. And it’s good that such an opportunity has now become a reality.

At this stage it is necessary for the work to begin. This is very necessary because many people prefer to receive information electronically. There is already a growing generation that simply psychologically does not perceive a printed book; it is easier for them to read from a screen. I would suggest this image. St. Petersburg was once called a “window to Europe”, television - a “window to the world”, now the Internet is a “window to the world”, and a library should be a “window to the world” of real knowledge, where the user could be guaranteed to receive reliable and reliable information. Here, of course, much will depend on what kind of literature the authors’ permission will be obtained for and how this resource will be formed. And over time, readers should get used to it: if they go to the NBR website, for example, they will receive a publication that is digitized in full, without abbreviations, it is easy to use, find the necessary information, etc.

— Several months ago, the idea was voiced that perhaps national libraries should be united and the functions of the RKP clarified. How do you feel about this?
- I heard about it. I think this issue requires very careful attention. The system has already developed in our country over many long years, including the Soviet years, when they were very frugal with money. Nevertheless, both in Moscow and Leningrad there were many large libraries, and no one raised the question of connecting Leninka and Saltykovka. Perhaps someone sees a contradiction in the fact that the RKP is under the jurisdiction of Rospechat, and large libraries - legal deposit recipients - are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, the Academy of Sciences, and the Presidential Administration. I think that the idea of a non-administrative unification should be considered. There is plenty of such experience in the history of our state, when departments and organizations were united and separated; it didn't make much sense. In this case, we can talk about combining library resources. Ultimately, this is what the reader is interested in. And it doesn’t matter to him how the libraries are administratively united. The main thing is that you can use the resource easily and conveniently electronic documents, which will increase. If this system is to work optimally, that matters more than who reports to whom.

— How can you comment on the prospects of the National Library in the context of the status that the library will acquire under Law 83?
— In January there was a round table of the Committee on Culture of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, which clearly demonstrated how cultural institutions relate to Federal Law-83, what a conceptual gap there is between those institutions that are currently being reformed and the developers represented by the Ministry of Finance. Our library, of course, is preparing for the transition to new working conditions; there is a certain concern, because this concerns a very sensitive area - financing, and this includes the salaries of employees, and funds for acquisition, for the maintenance of buildings and structures. By the way, in the Russian National Library in 2010 only utility bills amounted to more than 30 million rubles. This is quite a large amount for us. Worst option for libraries and others budgetary institutions, if the volume of government tasks will have to be “matched” to the funds that will actually be allocated to us. And then the meaning of the reform is lost. There are a lot of calculations ahead, paperwork and bureaucratic work, because you need to “build” into a certain service different types works, etc.

For libraries, Law 83, in my opinion, provides fewer opportunities than, say, for theaters and museums, which have at least a theoretical chance of making money. It’s difficult for libraries because they are the only cultural institutions that work for free and are most dependent on government assignments. It should also be noted that along with the change in the financing scheme, the dependence of cultural institutions on their founders, in this case on the ministry, is increasing. That is, we are not talking about the fact that institutions become freer, but on the contrary, they actually lose their independence, coordinating their activities with it, for example, the need to carry out major deal etc. Independence could be expressed in the rights to rent out premises without prejudice to the main activity. But this process also becomes overgrown with various bureaucratic procedures. It’s difficult for me to say how much the RNB will benefit from this.

The traditional library service, through which there was an opportunity to earn money - photocopying - is now not in demand; in our library the volume of copying has decreased by 25%. We are developing scanning services, but the possibility of copying using a camera or other device also remains. These sources of income are gradually disappearing; this was obvious a few years ago, when mobile phones, and readers began to copy books themselves in reading rooms. Whether there will be something new that the consumer will be willing to pay for is a big question. All this is very worrying because it relates to the payment of wages. As for the possibility of operating expense items differently, I have no illusion that you can simply cut some item, for example, acquisition, in order to increase wages. I suspect that there will be some limits. The system that exists has worked for decades and enabled libraries to perform their functions with varying degrees of success. Generally speaking, it seems to me that the developers of Federal Law-83 are great idealists, just like those who prepared the notorious Federal Law-94 on government procurement, designed for the participation in competitions of persons with good intentions, ready to deliver quality products on time and for little money. perform work or provide services. Life has clearly shown otherwise.

However, I believe that libraries will be able to overcome existing difficulties and will continue to play an important role in the development of science, culture and education in Russia.

— What ways of possible earnings were meant by our legislators? Perhaps the sale of electronic content, print on demand? In some countries, libraries are already competing with bookstores.
— Perhaps this will happen, although I believe that the service itself of access to digitized publications should be free for the user. I am surprised by the talk that only those services that are listed as free in Federal law“About librarianship”, and the rest must be paid. For example, allow free use of the catalog only within the library, and charge a fee for the right to use it via the Internet. But if libraries start charging for everything that is not specified in the law, then, I think, no one will go to them.

Now they write that visiting a modern hypermarket or megamall for a person is a pleasant pastime and positive emotions. You can relax, have a snack, buy yourself a gift, in general, spend money and have fun. Theater is also a holiday: a person chooses in advance which performance he wants to see and is ready to pay for a ticket. And for many modern readers, the library has become an “emergency response.” The electricity and water at home have been turned off - you need professional help. And if tomorrow you have to take an exam, write a term paper, then there is nowhere to go - the person goes to the library. And it is no longer associated with pleasant impressions, but with necessity. This is a very important psychological moment.

— How do you see the development of the library’s research activities?
— This is an interesting question, because scientific activity in the light of Federal Law 83 and the list of government services that libraries should provide appears indirectly. The approach here is strict. The library provides library and information services and carries out the function of storing literature. Therefore, it is difficult to say how science will be financed within the framework of Federal Law 83, how it will fit into this scheme.

Scientific activity should, first of all, help fulfill the immediate statutory tasks of the library. These are research in the field of bibliography, preservation of funds, scientific and methodological activities, study of book monuments, reader demand, readership, etc. The latter is very relevant, since reader surveys will soon become mandatory and will be one of the indicators of our work. Whether the scientific departments will be preserved in the form in which they exist now, or something else will be proposed, life will tell.

— What are your thoughts regarding the Russian Library Association?
— Traditionally, the headquarters of the RBA is located within the walls of the RNB, this was due to the fact that V.N. Zaitsev headed the Association from the very beginning and continued until his last days remain its leader. Of course, I would like the Association to work more actively and be more visible at the legislative level. I think it needs to be more dynamic, perhaps more aggressive in advocating for the interests of libraries. The role of the RBA should increase as a socially significant role non-profit organization. She could take over important points related to the regulation of librarianship. I would like to see the close relationship between the RBA and the National Bank continued. This is both a historical tradition and such a positive example when the headquarters of the all-Russian public organization is not located in Moscow.

We support the candidacy of V.R. for the post of President of the RBA. Firsov, who worked for a very long time at the Russian National Library and in the Association itself. This is a competent, highly qualified specialist, an honored scientist, who is well aware of the problems of libraries at all levels, but even this is not the most important thing. And the main thing is that Vladimir Rufinovich has a definite plan for the development of the Association, its implementation will be very useful for the RBA.

— In 2014 there will be a big anniversary, 200 years since the opening of the library. Any ideas for celebrating?
“Here we are in a difficult position, since we are celebrating two dates. The library was founded on May 27, 1795, and this day has been celebrated in our country since 1995 as All-Russian Library Day. On January 14, 1814, the library opened to readers, in Soviet era this date was celebrated. Now while we are thinking, making plans, assessing our strength, what we could do. A lot depends on financial opportunities. We decided for ourselves that we would celebrate; some events have already been planned, but how large-scale they will be is still difficult to say. We will try to organize a scientific conference in St. Petersburg dedicated to this date, and I would like to see a history of the NLR over the past 50 years prepared.

— At the end of the conversation, tell us a little about yourself, about your reading preferences...
— I started working at the Russian National Library, at that time at the State Public Library. Saltykov-Shchedrin, in September 1981, as an ordinary librarian in the collections and services department, which 15 years later he headed, was in Komsomol work, in particular, secretary of the Komsomol library committee, then worked in the district committee, and in 1990, at the suggestion V.N. Zaitsev returned to his native walls.

My PhD thesis was devoted to how at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The Russian government tried to create favorable public opinion, secretly financed the press and what ultimately came of it, where the money was actually spent, and why the autocracy lost the information war with the opposition. I had to deal with almost all library issues.

As for reading, I don’t have any system in choosing books. Now, for example, I am reading the memoirs of our famous playwright Viktor Rozov, I love the memoir genre. In short, I love literature that touches on real-life issues that resonate with me.

— Thank you for the conversation, good luck to you and the library.

rocked by public scandals related to the activities of its general director Anton Likhomanov. All these years I worked there, in the oldest Russian public press repository, and could personally see from the inside much of what was happening.

It is widely known, for example, how in 2012 Likhomanov, fulfilling, in his words, an oral order from the Ministry of Culture received by telephone, energetically began mass layoffs of library employees. Many also know that the corresponding order was signed by Likhomanov’s deputy for administrative and economic matters, Vladimir Alexandrov. Alexandrov is not the only one whose back the general director tried to hide behind. The heads of departments were required - in a rude, categorical form that did not tolerate objections - to write memos addressed to the general director with the wording: “I ask you to reduce” the number of employees in such and such a department due to a decrease in the volume of work. So that, hiding behind such documents, Likhomanov could say that he acted at the request of the workers. However, events got out of his control; the mass dismissal of library employees did not take place then.

And here is a new scandal. This time, in connection with the expected resignation of the general director, whose contract with the Ministry of Culture expires in January 2016, his subordinates stood up for the boss. The immediate reason for " open letter"On behalf of the "RNB team" the Prime Minister of Russia was informed by the appearance on November 20 in the Izvestia newspaper of information about his impending resignation. What has been happening since that moment, I would rather call a campaign organized by a group of activists. In order not to offend any of them, I will list in alphabetical order: Sergey Basov, Galina Mikheeva (she is also the initiator and author of the mentioned “open letter”), Anatoly Razumov, Evgeny Sokolinsky All people are authoritative and respected.

It is strange to read in the press now organized in support of the general director of the Russian National Library that his employees are afraid of layoffs in the event of his removal from office: they were afraid of layoffs throughout the entire period of Likhomanov’s leadership. Although staff layoffs on an unprecedented scale were avoided in 2012, mergers and liquidations of some departments were carried out. When Likhomanov was appointed to his current position, the library had more than 1,800 employees, but today it has only 1,300 staff members.

The general director's defenders give him credit for his knowledge of the library, explaining this knowledge by the fact that he has been working in it for thirty years. Correct: Likhomanov has long been an employee of the National Library of Russia, albeit with a long break for vacated Komsomol work. However, Likhomanov knows little about its structure in essence, the purpose and functions of its various divisions. This became especially noticeable when he headed the library. In all likelihood, the director had little interest in the substantive side of the activities of the institution, within whose walls he spent many years. However, Likhomanov has accumulated many personal vulnerabilities and claims against many employees. Having become a director, he, instead of building internal and external activities libraries, in accordance with the challenges of the time, began to settle scores with “old enemies.”

Likhomanov’s first victims were people from the inner circle of Vladimir Zaitsev, whom he replaced as general director. Unable to fire all the people he disliked for any reason, he began to create conditions under which employees had to leave “for at will", and was very successful in this. He expelled from the library Deputy General Director for Financial Affairs Tatyana Ivlieva, Deputy General Director for Administrative and Economic Affairs Vladimir Aleksandrov - a man who really knew, loved the library and did a lot for it and for its employees. These two are key from the point of view of the activities of the National Library of Russia, the figures were dismissed in different times, but with the same haste, within one day, without ensuring any continuity in work or at least transfer of affairs. Many people had the impression that all Likhomanov was thinking about, snatching resignation letters “of his own free will” from the hands of his deputies, was how to quickly formalize the dismissals so that they would not have time to change their minds. In the production, technical and economic departments, he carried out a total personnel “cleansing”, recruiting new people who knew nothing and did not understand the huge and complex library management.

Likhomanov’s “skillful leadership,” which defenders of the general director now point to, led in 2013 to the protest departure of an entire department from the library—the Center for Cultural Programs. Twelve people simultaneously submitted their resignations “of their own free will,” as a sign of protest against administrative arbitrariness.

Likhomanov treats his subordinates as if they were his serfs, whom he accidentally won at cards.

All personnel issues- from the reception and movement within the library of even the most junior staff - Likhomanov concentrated in his hands. The heads of departments and Likhomanov’s deputies were essentially deprived of all rights, having acquired only responsibilities, the main of which was to unquestioningly carry out the will of the boss. All positions of the library’s scientific plan, all decisions about what will be published by the National Library and what will not, are made and approved by the director personally. But, as always, hiding behind someone else’s back. In this case, behind the back of his deputy for scientific work Vladimir Firsov, who must put his signature everywhere and on everything that he, Likhomanov, decided on the scientific side.

Take, for example, the latest department liquidations. In November, the Department of Library Technologies, which was expertly involved in the placement of collections, was liquidated. In the conditions of the National Security Service, where these problems are very acute, only an irresponsible manager could liquidate such a department. The same can be said about the liquidation of the Machine Readable Records Formats Division.

It has long been a tradition in the library to openly discuss the decisions of the general director. It is dangerous not to please him: you can pay for it not only with a bonus, but also with a job. The library staff began to fear a lot. As one of them accurately noted, Likhomanov treats his subordinates as his serfs, whom he accidentally won at cards. Every time after another scandalous, “voluntary” dismissal, employees look at each other and ask each other the same question: who’s next?

Like a typical official of a well-known school, Likhomanov, trampling on those below him, obsequiously and unquestioningly tries to carry out any orders coming from above, acting like a cog in the system. But, apparently, the screw turned out to be defective, since they wanted to replace it. A letter in support of Likhomanov, addressed to the Prime Minister of Russia, was signed “on behalf of the RNL staff” by 430 people. This is only a third of the library staff, and even among them there are hardly half of those who truly sincerely support the current leader. Many signed out of fear that Likhomanov, if left as director, would deal with those who did not sign in his defense.

At the same time, I can understand those who were outraged by the general negative assessment of the activities of the National Library of Russia voiced in Izvestia. I completely agree with Evgeny Sokolinsky: the National Library of Russia really still has a very strong team, it has serious achievements in various fields, significant not only for the country, but also for the rest of the world. The library tries to fulfill its mission, despite unfavorable circumstances and the essentially destructive efforts of its unsuccessful leader. It is difficult to break such a team.

In one of the recent publications, another opinion was voiced, to which one cannot help but react: “Another discontent of the Ministry of Culture is associated with scientific activities libraries. The department is perplexed why most of the 118 researchers The Russian National Library is engaged in “the preparation and publication of ongoing bibliographic indexes” instead of research." The Russian National Library has a Department of General Bibliography and Local History (OBIK), which employs about thirty employees. The department, in accordance with its purpose, is engaged in the compilation of bibliographic indexes, including ongoing. This is one of the main activities of any national library. Indexes prepared by OBIC have a high scientific reputation, are famous and in demand in Russia and abroad. In addition to preparing indexes, employees are engaged in research, the results of which are published, and they hold scientific conferences, in particular. one of the largest international library forums in the country, the Bibliographic Congress. As for the remaining (about 90) scientific staff, they are all engaged in the development of scientific, practical and research areas, in accordance with the scientific tasks of their departments. This is why there are complaints against these specialists. seem untenable and cause many justifiable concerns. It is not entirely clear why there was a need to defend the enormous work and reputation of the Russian National Library at all.

Nevertheless, the main motive for publications in defense of Likhomanov boils down to the fear that with his replacement it will become even worse. Therefore, probably, the former deputy director of the library, Galina Mikheeva, said in an interview with Radio Liberty: “I don’t think that Anton Vladimirovich is so bad. He is a normal director, we are used to him.” Indeed, someone at the National Library of Russia got used to this little authoritarian boss. What people don't get used to. But perhaps a large part of today’s problems with this glorious cultural institution lies precisely in this?

I came to the library in 1979 and worked there for thirty-five years, the last fourteen of which I headed the Department archival documents. The library has become for me, as for many of us, its old-timers, a second home and a temple to which you selflessly serve, giving of yourself. Many of my publications are dedicated to the library. My service history was simple and worthy, they usually say “an impeccable track record.” This continued until Likhomanov came to leadership of the National Library of Russia, and I was on his “black list.” The last years of my service were poisoned by methodical administrative pressure, unreasonable demands, claims, nagging, and insults. In the end, the general director got his way, last summer I submitted a request to fire me at my own request. But don’t believe it if someone tells you that I left the Russian National Library of my own free will: I, like many others, was forced out of it by A.V. Likhomanov.

Irina Zvereva – candidate of philological sciences, former employee Russian National Library

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