Portrait Gallery of an Era: on the Pages of Bibliotekovedenie Journal (1952—2021)

The article is devoted to the study of the publications of biographical direction of the “Bibliotekovedenie” — Russian Journal of Library Science in 1952—2021. The most attention is paid to the analysis of the materials published in the 20th century. It reconstructs the history of the development of biographical materials on the pages of the periodical edition, defines the stages and characteristic features of each of them, presents the forms of biographical publications, reveals the circle of persons engaged in studying biographies of outstanding librarians, as well as the persons who became the objects of the authors’ and editors’ attention. The scientific discipline of humanitarian cycle, biography, is discussed. The authors cite the opinions of scholars (Yu.N. Stolyarov, V.S. Kreydenko, A.N. Vaneev, I.L. Belenkiy, G.G. Silnitskii, etc.) which emphasizes the necessity and significance of studying history through biographical studies. In the 21st century the library and book community has entered with a very developed direction of historical research on biography. While before 1970 there were sporadic publications on people of the library profession, by the end of the 20th century the number of biographical materials had increased significantly. Books and monographs dedicated to librarians appeared, name conferences began to be organized, autobiographical genre began to form, memoirs “in the first person” were published. Various factual and biographical materials have been collected in the journal. During the 15-year period of publication of the collection (bulletin) “Libraries of the USSR. Work Experience” (1952—1966) it published four articles of biographical genre: on the bibliographer A.P. Sokolov; on V.I. Lenin’s elder brother A.I. Ulyanov; the writer V.G. Korolenko and his library; the librarian A.A. Pokrovsky. During the six years (1967—1972), when the collection was published under the title “Libraries of the USSR”, nine articles dedicated to individual outstanding people were published in it. In 1973 the collection was transformed into the scientific and practical journal “Soviet Bibliotekovedenie” (Soviet Library Science). During the twenty years between 1973 and 1992, 128 biographical materials were published, and 96 persons were the subject of attention. Since 1993 the journal has been published under the title “Bibliotekovedenie” (Russian Journal of Library Science). From 1993 to 2000, 59 biographical materials were published in it. Articles of autobiographical genre appeared. For the first time, the interview genre was used. Between 2001 and 2021, 298 biographical materials were published in the journal, and more than 200 persons received attention. Of these, material on 165 persons appeared for the first time. Between 1952 and 2021, a total of over 280 authors published articles of biographical genre. The librarians about whom the greatest number of materials has been published: O.S. Chubarian, N.I. Tyulina, Yu.V. Grigoriev, N.S. Kartashov, K.I. Abramov, A.A. Pokrovsky, M.Ya. Dvorkina, N.A. Rubakin, Yu.N. Stolyarov, L.B. Khavkina, etc. The materials presented in the journal may serve as a basis for further research. The article may be useful for library professionals to intensify research activities in the field of library history through the study of biographies of prominent people.