The Best Professional Publications: Results of the 12th All-Russian Contest of the Russian Library Association
Authors: Volkhonskaya Elena N. 
Published: November 2024

The review article analyses the results of the 12th All-Russian Contest of the Russian Library Association (RLA) “The Best Professional Book of the Year — 2024”. The results of the competition were summed up on 4 September 2024 at the 37th Moscow International Book Fair, where the RLA and the Russian State Library (RSL) presented their publications at a joint stand. It is the RLA, according to V.V. Duda, Director General of the RSL, who was elected in May 2024 as RLA President for 2024—2027, should become the leader of mutual integration of Russian regions in the field of librarianship. The Best Professional Book of the Year is one of the examples of such interaction. The competition is an important event for the development of the RLA as an expert platform and project office for managing the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Librarianship in the Russian Federation until 2030. The contest participants were 59 publications of 50 organisations from 25 regions of our country.

The first place in the main nomination — To Help the Professional — was awarded to the collection of articles of the Russian National Library “Research Activity in Regional Libraries: Content and Organisation”. The winner in the nomination “Library in the Cultural Life of the Community” was the book “Me and Gaidarovka”, published for the 90th anniversary of the Central City Children’s Library named after A.P. Gaidar. A special diploma in this nomination was awarded to the collection edited by N.I. Mikhailova and A.Yu. Samarin “A.S. Pushkin and the Book”, dedicated to the 225th anniversary of the poet’s birth and printed by the publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov Dom”.

The album “Masterpieces of the Russian State Library” by the publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov Dom” was named the leader of the nomination “Polygraphic Performance”. For the academic nature of the album and service to national science in the nomination “ART-Book” of the National Competition “Book of the Year” Pashkov Dom was also awarded a special diploma, and the Russian State Library became the Grand Prix winner of the 8th Interregional Competition “Book of the Year: Siberia — Eurasia — 2024” for presenting visual images of cultural treasures of the largest book depository in the world.

The book “Pskov Legends and Tales About Pushkin” by the Central City Library of the Pskov Centralized Library System won the first place in the special nomination “The Best Publication of a Municipal Library”. The winner in the special nomination “Books for the Blind and Visually Impaired” was the publication “Unusual Libraries of the World” by the St. Petersburg State Special Central Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The contest “The Best Professional Book of the Year” is one of the most important professional events in our country. It is designed to preserve authentic history and promote Russia’s cultural diversity on the basis of local history and attention to the country’s libraries.