Vadim Duda: the library will become a place for live communication. Russian education federal portal

18.11.2015

About the new concept of the development of "Inostranka" and the situation with cultural centers, about promising international plans and the opening of a regional network of branches, about the NEL and library associations in an interview with the General Director of VGBIL named after M.I. Rudomino Vadim DUDA.

Vadim Valerievich, three months have passed since your appointment as General Director of VGBIL. I am sure that it has not yet been possible to fully understand all the problematic issues during this time, but I think it has worked out to "plunge headlong" into the library space of "Inostranka". What was the most difficult for you then (at the moment of making the decision) and now?

You know, to be honest, everything happened quite unexpectedly. Inostranka has always been a library with a serious identity, an authoritative brand, and a strong leader. We all associated the library with the name of Ekaterina Yurievna Genieva, it was an unshakable dogma. It is a very difficult decision to take a seat after such a person. But I must say that the great advantage of Inostranka is that a very positive internal atmosphere has been created here. The concept of "tolerance" has become so ingrained in the collective consciousness that people try not to express harsh judgments, there is no rejection. Before drawing any conclusions, they strive to first figure out what the matter is, and understand the position of the interlocutor. It helped me a lot in many ways.

Frankly, during the three months of working in the library, I have not had a single day when I got up in the morning with a heavy heart and thought that I would again have to plunge into this tangle of problems. I get great pleasure from meeting with colleagues, I see that everyone is ready for active work. I clearly understand how the library can be useful at the current stage of its development. I think that the most difficult stage is over.

Why do you think the choice fell on your candidacy? What competencies have become yours competitive advantage? There was a lot of talk in the community that you speak a huge number of foreign languages.

- (Laughs.) Of course, I can explain myself with the taxi driver, solve some everyday issues in five or six languages. By the way, I don't consider English to be foreign: it is a must have, it just must be. I'm sure it's not about languages ​​at all; this cannot be a defining competitive advantage. The library is not the Foreign Ministry, and we are not diplomats.

I must say that I was somewhat surprised by the systematic approach of the ministry. When I G.P. Ivliev very carefully hinted about the appointment, I was very puzzled, but he gave several arguments, which were based on the Development Program of the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, adopted back in 2012. Priority directions included the development of the communication component, IT, international cooperation, educational programs. Working in the ministry, I roughly understood how the financing mechanisms are arranged, I understand in information technologies, having been doing this in one way or another for the last 20 years, I was the head of APRIKT for a year. Therefore, there was logic. Probably, this is the case when the decision was not emotional under the influence of the mood of the public, but very rational: we compared certain competencies of the candidate and the needs of the organization at the moment.

- What changes will affect the staff and personnel policy of the library?

In one of his last interviews, E.Yu. Genieva said that there are many daring plans, but very little time. To be honest, I do not quite agree with this thesis. After all, the matter concerns not just one person, but the whole organization. We are going to actively continue what was started not only by Ekaterina Yurievna, but also by Margarita Ivanovna Rudomino. We have enough time and it is very important for the team to ensure consistency. I am sure that you cannot deviate from the roots and the principle of "a new broom sweeps in a new way" is not suitable here.

I am a supporter of the evolutionary approach: you need to highlight the main thing that was created by the great predecessors, and build on this development program. Therefore, no drastic changes in personnel policy are planned. Of course, we will invite people with new competencies that are needed to implement the priority plans for the library's development. For example, the interaction with the Ministry of Culture of Russia is not well organized. This requires some specific work and understanding of what is happening in the relevant department.

We receive very little funds for extrabudgetary activities from the FTP, we need to activate this area. It is necessary to purchase equipment, do overhaul, develop electronic resources. This requires constant, routine interaction.

As far as I understand, during these three months you should have formulated a concept for the development of VGBIL. It is clear that it needs to be built in accordance with the already mentioned program, approved by the Ministry of Culture in 2012. Nevertheless, share the main provisions and theses of your vision of the library's development. What areas do you highlight as priorities?

There are several public bodies whose opinion we value. One of them is the Library Board of Trustees. We considered it necessary to hold an extraordinary meeting in early September, because the main provisions of the concept must be approved, among other things, by the Council. We have approved the concept in a framework, now we are filling it with details.

The main thesis is that the mission of the library is to be the center of international cultural communication. It should form tolerant thinking, intercultural competence, so that people are ready for the challenges of physical globalization, and informational, and life in a multicultural world. This means that for us the audience becomes one of the most important factors. Of course, all library issues - the acquisition, the fund, the preservation of the collections, and the maintenance - are a priority, we will just do this by default. But in addition to this, we must actively develop the communication component.

We have analyzed the composition of the audience of "Inostranka", the services in demand. It turned out that about 42% of visits are provided by library services, 20% - by the electronic reading room, and the remaining 38% are attracted by international cultural centers. The concept that was formulated by M.I. Rudomino, - that the library is a center for learning languages, familiarizing with different cultures, a "window into the world" - and now it is very relevant. 84% of all orders fall on several main topics: linguistics, literary studies, fiction in foreign languages. The number of visitors to the electronic reading room and electronic services in general is actively growing.

For two months, we closely followed the path of the visitor to the library: where he visits, how much time he spends with us. It turns out that at the same time 30 people are in the electronic reading room, another 30 - in the library rooms and the same number - in international cultural centers. Thus, 80–90 people are present in the library at the same time. I must say that we have something to strive for. Even with today's layout and placement, we have approximately 220 jobs in the reading room. Thus, it is far from being completely filled. Cultural centers can accommodate up to 150 people at a time. By the way, cultural centers provide 45-50 thousand visits a year, of which more than half are American. The reason is objective - about 700 events are held there a year. For comparison: in Japanese - 100, it is in second place in terms of attendance.

Returning to the analysis of the behavior of the reader: it turned out that the average time spent in the library is quite short - about an hour. You can, of course, say that people read books less, but you need to look at things soberly: if a person has worked for an hour or two, then he needs to drink coffee, have a snack, and just relax and rest.

We took into account the wishes of our readers and identified four main areas in which we want to be leaders. First of all, these are international cultural centers. There should be a lot of them, we plan to allocate special areas in order to increase their number (today there are 14 of them). We need to take the lead in virtual services. It is necessary for the library to become interesting and comfortable for work: there should be a cafe, places for coworking. And of course, regional development is a priority. We want to have a regional network. Of course, we need a new portal. And we will actively participate in the NEB.

I would like to dwell on two potential projects that seem interesting and promising to me. Now everyone is saddened by the difficulties with acquisition: the euro and dollar rates are growing, and subscription to electronic resources is becoming very expensive. We want to offer national libraries in different countries to open their virtual reading rooms in "Inostranka". Everyone has a similar approach to copyright, i.e. access to full texts only from library premises.

Let me give you an example. How many Portuguese are there in Moscow? I think not very much. But the library must provide access to modern books, materials for research, scientific work... At the same time, it is costly to complete their own complete fund for them. Virtual access to the electronic resources of the National Library of Portugal can solve this problem.

Another project is the digitization of periodicals. We have a huge number of newspaper archives in foreign languages ​​in our book depository. At the same time, there is very little information about them in the catalog: we do not list them by article, content, in fact, only the number and date of issue are known. It is not very convenient for searching, the value of a directory such as information resource low. At the same time, this archive takes up a lot of space, and its demand is minimal.

There is a temptation to digitize everything and free up shelves, but it is obvious that not just scans are needed, but metadata, a tagging system, etc. At the same time, the same newspapers are most likely to be found in large libraries of those countries where the newspapers were published. Therefore, in the Council of Europe, we proposed to come to an agreement with libraries on cooperation, joint digitization of periodicals, to develop common technological approaches so that all project participants could use the common resource in the future.

The premises of the library itself are also undergoing major changes. We intend to make the first floor an open social space. There will be a bookstore, a literary cafe, zones for meetings with authors, master classes, and presentations. Anyone can go there. In Finland I saw a very interesting picture: there people are queuing at the opening of the library to read the latest newspaper and have a cup of coffee. I'm not sure if this will take root here, but these practices are worth learning.

Upgrade ideas courtyard libraries. On the second floor it is planned to have an e-book room and rooms in which a small group of two or three people can gather, as well as a coworking space. People will be able to work effectively there, it is supposed to arrange isolated, personal, offices.

In the library, in an open space, there are cultural centers, but there are also administrative premises, which we will try to free up by opening new reading rooms and new international cultural centers. We are thinking about a more thorough zoning of the premises: South and North America, Europe, Asia, so that the reader can easily find the resources of interest in the corresponding part of the library. We want to do all this together with embassies, with institutions and people who are responsible for promoting the culture of these regions and who will be able to help with funds and events.

There is an idea to place a multi-format space on the fifth floor (on the roof), including a reading room, a literary cafe. There is a stunning view of Moscow. It will be possible to take a book from any reading room with an open layout, go upstairs, read, relax and spend at least the whole day there.

It is clear that the project is expensive - we will talk about tens of millions of rubles, but this is not a matter of one year. We want to start from the first floor and modernize it over the next year. We have already discussed the project with the ministry and private investors. Obviously, this should be done only in cooperation, to find a mutually beneficial mechanism of public-private partnership.

Naturally, we plan to expand cooperation with our foreign partners. When we communicate with the embassies, they are ready to provide books, multimedia materials, organize meetings with authors and cultural figures, interesting people. For them, this means an increase in the number of contacts, references to materials. And if we also offer a regional network, then we can count on an increase in the number of books, materials, meetings with interesting people.

The essence of our proposal for regional cooperation is roughly as follows. We want to agree on the creation of Inostranka corners (allocation of space for books, multimedia resources with Internet access) in regional libraries, while taking on the responsibility of filling them with foreign literature and multimedia funds with the support of our international partners, as well as providing a cultural program. Thus, we will be able to invite people who come through the institutes of embassies and cultural funds to visit not only VGBIL, but also a network of regional branches.

I know that VGBIL has been selected as a pilot project in terms of implementing the initiative of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation V. Medinsky to open bookstores in libraries. How do you rate this idea in terms of efficiency in your library and in Russia as a whole?

Oddly enough, there is a common goal for both the library and the store - to increase traffic, audience. Of course, the current flow of 150-200 people is not enough for a bookstore.

Cafes, meetings with authors, presentations and other events will attract an additional audience, which will indirectly affect the operator's revenue. I consider it important to carefully approach the choice of the thematic focus and format of this store. Not sure if any one statement can fit all types of libraries.

We have a very specific audience, and a regular bookstore is not our format. Perhaps, at the first stage, it is worth limiting ourselves to terminals for ordering books, given the modest possibilities of libraries in terms of the area that they can allocate. Right now, I don’t see a ready-made concept that would suit us, but we are very actively working on its creation.

Taking into account the difficult political situation, many questions have arisen recently regarding the cultural centers of the All-Union State Library for Foreign Literature, in particular the American one. How was the situation resolved?

International centers are an extremely important asset to us. This is a priority both as a source of extra-budgetary revenues and as an interesting service for the audience. But all centers should be transferred to a certain legal field, since there are many comments on this matter.

A week after my arrival at Inostranka, I gathered representatives of all international cultural centers and set them the task of working to legitimize all agreements.

We also informed our colleagues from the United States about this, but they took a rather tough position: no bargaining, everything that the State Department said is sacred. This situation did not suit us, the agreement must correspond to our understanding of the legal field. Having received such a tough conclusion from the US Embassy that absolutely nothing can be changed, we were forced to notify them that we were rejecting the current grant agreement.

I emphasize: we did not abandon the American center, it is open and fully functioning, we gave up money. The center has been preserved with the same area and equipment, the people who worked in it were transferred to regular positions in the library. We are restoring the programs that were there. Moreover, we want to continue to cooperate with our American colleagues, but only on conditions that comply with Russian legislation and are accepted by two parties, and not only by the US State Department.

You have been participating in the NEB project for two years. Is the project development strategy chosen today expedient, in your opinion? What are its weaknesses, what services should you add or start developing?

I think that we have achieved a lot during this time. The main value the fact that the NEL from the "get-together" of several large libraries has become a matter of a wide community. Of course, there is a lot to criticize, but on the whole the NEL is gradually becoming a truly general library project. Of course, now he is not, because there is little motivation to participate.

We are still very far from ideal, and if we talk about the prospects, then, in my opinion, the main thing that needs to be done is to create a system to stimulate the participation of libraries in this project.

What I would not want is for the NEL to turn into a website for the RSL or some other library. The NEL should become a set of electronic libraries, a system of organizational, legal and technological measures that stimulate libraries to create electronic collections and share them with a wide audience.

We are in very close contact with everyone who participates in the NEB, I am actively involved in this at new position... We will help, support and try to do so that the interests of the wide library community are taken into account.

- How do you evaluate the solution model legal issues regarding access to modern content in the NEL?

Together with the publishing house "EKSMO" we have developed a pilot project "Providing access to e-books", where the model is completely different. We do not buy anything for a warehouse, but we acquire access to a fund of 50 thousand books and we will organize the issuance of these books through the partner libraries of "Inostranka" at the request of the user.

There are differences from the current model of interaction between libraries and "Liters", where everything is organized more complexly: there are instances that have their own life cycle, you have to buy them. Here we have agreed to pay only for use, we buy a certain number of loan loans from a fairly wide range.

The project with "EKSMO" also implies the acquisition of regional offices with books in electronic format. The partner library will receive a login and password for the administrative part of the system and will be able to issue logins to its readers. Those will download a mobile application, branded for the library, and will be able to borrow e-books.

I think that in six months or a year we will have certain statistics, an understanding of how much this is in demand by readers and libraries.

I am against attempts to forcibly alienate any rights and content. We need a fair mechanism for distributing money depending on usage and views, Pay per view, for example. Everything should be clear and transparent for all parties - readers, libraries, publishers, founders.

- With what collections is Inostranka planning to participate in the NEB?

This year, we will most likely include our "bilinguals" - bilingual publications in the NEB. The classics were published - Pushkin, Lermontov, other great poets - in Russian and French, Russian and English, Russian and Italian. I think this is a very unusual and demanded format, content that will arouse interest.

You were one of the initiators of the creation of the Association "Libraries of the Future", becoming the vice-president of this organization. How do you see her future?

The main role of the Association, in my opinion, is that it should become a partner of the state in the management of large projects that relate to the library industry, such as the NEL, the inclusion of 10% of annually published books, distribution of digital books, etc. The ministry cannot accurately formulate all the tasks of the industry, there are very few resources.

A collective management body for large projects is needed. The new Association may become this. In addition, it can help in pooling library resources for collaborative, mutually beneficial projects.

- What prevents you from doing this within the framework of the existing RBA?

I'll try to explain. If you remember, at the election of the President of the RBA in Ryazan a year ago there was a "battle of the titans" - Ya.L. Schreiberg and V.R. Firsova. V.R. Firsov was of the opinion that the association is a political body, it should express the opinion of the community, ensure its consolidated position. This is definitely an important feature.

Ya. L. Shraiberg stood on an economic platform: the association should manage certain resources, participate in the implementation of government contracts, there should be projects backed by money and resources.

It seems to me that these approaches are very different, it is difficult to combine them within the framework of one association. And the conflict, in my opinion, was not caused by the very idea of ​​creating a new association, but rather by the clash of the personalities of highly respected people, a certain misunderstanding. I do not see anything wrong with competition, while I believe that the two associations should be partners, and not replace each other or enter into confrontation.

It is necessary to develop trust; without this, large-scale deeds and projects are impossible.

Prior to your appointment, you were actively involved in projects for the implementation of the Model Standard for Libraries. How do you assess the practical applicability of this document in your current status?

All our developments in accordance with the Model Standard, I hope, we will use in the regional development project. At the end of the year, we plan to launch a library in Bogolyubovo that meets the Model Standard, Inostranka will be the supplier of some of the equipment, and we will help the ministry to implement this project.

Serious discussions in the professional community have caused proposals for remote personnel recertification. What is your attitude towards this initiative?

I think it is very promising idea... It is quite possible that this can become the work of a new association, one of its directions. Everything related to distance education, remote certification can be of great interest, there is clearly a future for this.

- How do you plan to build the library's publishing activities?

For a library, publishing is not important in and of itself. This is not a business, not a KPI, this is a reason to bring interesting people, organize meetings, presentations, i.e. rather, a way of solving political, classroom problems.

I will single out two areas that I am very impressed with in our publishing activities. The first is the publication of "bilingual", bilingual publications. This is an excellent tool for promoting the language, these books should be mandatory for the representative offices of Rossotrudnichestvo, diplomatic missions, foreign universities. The second is our interaction with the Forum Slavic cultures, for example, the series "One Hundred Slavic Novels". We must not give up in the fight against the global dominance of the English language.

In recent years, the positioning of the Russian library community on the international professional landscape is a very difficult topic, given the fact that Russia has lost its former positions and our "presence" at IFLA superfluous index. What are the priority steps, in your opinion, should be taken for more active promotion of domestic projects?

I agree that we do not behave aggressively and consistently enough in the international professional arena. Unfortunately, we are poorly visible in the international information field. What was the Russian delegation in Cape Town? 12 people. There were more than 250 American colleagues. Out of 12, as far as I understand, there was not a single director of the national or federal library. How many of the 12 present could communicate informally in English? How many reports are there in the annual IFLA Forum? Hundreds. How many of them were Russian? There are many questions, and all the answers are not in our favor.

We need to very clearly formulate a policy of presence in IFLA and other international venues. There should be permanent members in sections, committees, board. We must actively influence the agenda. We need opinion leaders and authorities in international associations.

Until we have permanent members in the leadership of such organizations that are in the subject, enjoy authority and really do something, things will not move.

We had a similar situation with the Council of Europe. When we started communicating through the Ministry of Culture, we chose a policy aimed at active participation in project management within the committees of the Council of Europe. One of them was the conference of ministers of culture of the countries of the Council of Europe in 2013. This means that we fully participated in the Bureau and working groups.

We actively influenced the agenda and implementation issues. And most importantly, after this conference, a document appeared in the Council of Europe - Moscow Agenda, in which the pan-European priorities in the development of culture, including the use of digital technologies, were fixed for several years.

I think that in order to promote the Russian library community in the international arena, an active working group, which should carry out topics that are interesting at the international level, there should be a certain resource, support behind it. Then it will be possible to talk about the development and implementation of a strategy for our international cooperation, increasing the importance and authority of Russia.

- What are your reading preferences by genre and format?

It is difficult to answer the question unambiguously, depending on the situation and situation. On my bedside table, I often find Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, but now there is Anton Donchev, a Bulgarian writer. Interesting, sounds a little strange, but I like it. And if I were traveling by train, at night, in winter, I would gladly re-read Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago, in order to feel especially clearly how “a blizzard sculpted circles and arrows on the glass” ... By the way, I don’t read e-books, doesn’t deliver much pleasure. Only paper ones!

- Thank you and good luck!

Interviewed by Elena Beilina

The general director of the Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature Vadim Duda told RIA Novosti about new educational projects, cultural and educational centers, said that a new one would appear in the library after a large-scale renovation, and also shared his thoughts on how the library community should develop in a fast development of information technology.

- The beginning of the school year is approaching. Do you plan to create educational projects for schoolchildren and students? Perhaps the number of meetings and master classes at the cultural centers of the library will increase?

- This year we decided to create an educational cluster. We will single out a whole wing of the library - auditoriums, places for recreation, very precisely prepared for educational services. To begin with, we will continue the language courses that we will conduct jointly with the cultural institutions of the respective countries: English with the British Council, Spanish with the Cervantes Institute. The first Spanish groups will appear this fall. Also, courses will open in the rest of the main languages ​​- Italian, German, French - in conjunction with the cultural institutions of these countries. Several national cultural centers operate in Inostranka: American, Japanese, Dutch, Azerbaijani, and so on. Many educational programs are held on the basis of these cultural centers - these are conversation clubs, meetings with representatives of embassies, meetings with native speakers. Much attention is paid to national cultures and their peculiarities: in the Japan Center, for example, master classes on traditional tea drinking or origami are held.

About 150 events are planned for September. Most of the language learning meetings will take place at the American Center and the recently opened Francoteque. Inostranka will also host the IV International Congress of Translators of Fiction " Literary translation as a means cultural diplomacy", Days of Czech Culture and other events.

- A message has appeared on the Inostranka website that a Center for Slavic Cultures will appear soon. Can you tell us more about it when it will open approximately?

- We have been in contact with the Forum of Slavic Cultures (FGC) for a long time, we had quite a lot of publishing projects: the series "One Hundred Slavic Novels" and individual works that we published together with the forum. We thought that in Inostranka, among the large number of national or linguistic centers, there is a great lack of a single center dedicated to Slavic culture, which includes our country. We decided to open a specialized hall with an extensive program of events dedicated to Slavic culture, and a library of literature on Slavic languages... FSK will be the partner of the Center for Slavic Cultures. Now the forum includes 13 countries, including Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and so on. All of them are of great cultural interest. Our center will be opened either in December 2016 or at the very beginning of 2017. The work is already underway, we are selecting funds, FGC helps us to establish contacts with libraries and ministries of the respective countries, which, we hope, will help us with both books and filling the activities of this center, so that there are people, meetings, live communication.

- At the moment, Russia is in the process of restoring relations with Turkey. As far as I know, Turkish existed in Inostranka Cultural Center was closed. Do you plan to resume its work?

- Let's look at the situation from a pragmatic point of view. A center is a room with books, people, events. The center's activities were financed by one of the Russian-Turkish cooperation funds. At some point, funding stopped. Everything concerning the premises and books remained intact, but the activity ceased. This is not a library solution. If we find partners, we will be happy to continue this work.

- The foreigner plans to open some new points in the library, cultural or educational centers?

- Now the library is undergoing major repairs. Our cultural social center will open on the ground floor in the fall, there will be a reception, places for self-registration of readers. In addition, two very important points of the library will appear - a bookstore and a literary cafe, large areas of which will be located on outdoors... We often hold book presentations, meetings with authors - this is one of the best formats to attract interest in reading and buying books. We have our own dedicated audience that is interested in languages, linguistics, literary criticism, interesting novelties - we will count on them in our bookstore, where there will be art books, albums, catalogs, fiction in languages.

The literary cafe will become a place for live communication. We think our bookstore is an important pilot project for the library environment because libraries can be good places to start bookstores: there are many of them, and they employ people who are fanatical about the book. In addition, libraries are usually conveniently located.

A little later, I think next year, there will be a redevelopment of the Atrium: there will be specialized meeting places in the open air, a small cinema ... We will not reveal all the secrets yet.

In 2017, we are planning to open an Italian Cultural Center, because Italian language and culture requires a lot of attention. This is the fourth most popular destination among our readers. Then we will think about opening a Center for German Culture, but there are no specific plans yet.

In addition, we will open the Pearson Lab later this year. Pearson is a publishing house that specializes in the study of languages, mainly English. It will be a multimedia center where you can come to study on your own, teachers will be able to try out certain Pearson techniques and use them in the educational process.

- Tell us more about the laboratory. Will it be a computer lab where individual students will come? Or a group class?

- And so and so. It will be open to Inostranka readers, including in a virtual form: users will get access to certain resources, techniques and programs without leaving their homes. Also, the class will be open to teachers of language groups.

— How will the financing proceed?

- You see, libraries have always been a point of access to knowledge. Previously, knowledge was associated with a book, but now it is available in some other form. Why should the library stay on the sidelines? Both ourselves and in cooperation with our partners, we will finance access to electronic resources.

— Not so long ago, a Francoteca opened in the library. Are there any statistics for visiting the center?

- Francoteca uses in great demand... Summer, in general, is a quiet period, but in a month and a half of work, the center was visited by about 600 people, which is a very good indicator for a new reading room. Francoteca - successful project that is interesting to the audience. I think that starting from September we will increase the number of events and programs.

- The site of the Inostranka has a convenient interface and clear navigation. What are the plans for the development of the library in a virtual environment?

- The library is a rather complex organization in terms of information support. What have librarians always been good at doing? Receive a large number of books, classify them, organize, catalog, ensure the correct arrangement in order to quickly find the right book. This has been practiced for centuries.

20 years ago they burst into our life information Technology and it became clear that with their help it is possible to open library collections, describe them and organize them. But transferring the principles of working with paper catalogs to electronic view it is not always easy to do, because it is a completely different environment that requires different approaches. In most libraries, electronic catalogs are similar to paper ones. Our site is a good example. We have a really convenient and modern interface that allows you to quickly navigate the flow of announcements and news materials. However, there is a large gap in the electronic catalog. We plan to spend a lot of time and effort to ensure that our catalog becomes as adequate and relevant as possible, that is, it fully opens our funds and is convenient for users, contains scans of covers, table of contents, information from encyclopedic sources. We have about five million storage units, of which two and a half million are books. In order to put all electronic records in order, you need to reconcile the record, make sure that the book is in place - this is a very serious work, which we will be engaged in at least two or three years.

— Are there enough employees for such work?

- No, not enough. The library community is beginning to understand the need to reflect on the manufacturability of our traditional processes. For the library to become a place to meet and socialize, resources must be freed up. The library needs to be more efficient, better organized, so that we can free up time and resources for educational, educational, cultural and social activities.

— What rare books of special interest or book collections might appear in the library?

- We are guided by the fact that the library should receive about 10 thousand new books per year. The specificity of our library is that we deal with foreign literature. Over the past two years, our ability to buy literature has dropped by exactly half because the exchange rate of the ruble has changed. We are engaged in projects such as Francoteca, with the help of our partners, to ensure that new interesting books in foreign languages ​​and maintain the recruitment level. At the opening of the center, we received about seven thousand books in French and a subscription to electronic resources: in fact, this is our annual plan for the receipt of books. Indeed, there are certain difficulties. We need to improve the efficiency of internal processes in order to free up funds for the purchase of new books.

- The foreigner is engaged in the digitization of books. At what stage is the digitization process itself at the moment? What was the plan, say, for a year and how many have already been fulfilled?

- Let's figure it out. There are at least two directions of digitization: the first is what we are doing for the National electronic library(NEB). The ideology of the NEB is to provide access to knowledge. About one hundred thousand book titles are published in Russia every year. The average circulation of the book is 5 thousand. If we talk about scientific books - 500 pieces. The NEB focuses on preserving what is published in a very small circulation, but creates a large pool of knowledge. This year we will submit to the NEL about a thousand books that correspond to the profile of acquisition of the NEL: culture, science, education. We will have completed this task by November.

The second is digitization, which we ourselves are engaged in. We are trying to digitize rare books and those that may be lost at some point due to their dilapidation. These numbers are roughly equal to what we are doing for the NEB. Such rates are, of course, insufficient. Our collection of rare books consists of about 60 thousand copies, and at least this fund needs to be digitized.

— Which books are most popular - electronic or paper?

- Probably, I can't answer this question for you, and here's why: it seems that e-books are more popular. But libraries do not have many convenient services for providing access to e-books. Our pilot project with Liters and the publishing house AST-EKSMO showed that people are interested in e-books. But after reading such a book, they often come to the conclusion that they want to buy a paper version. Electronic books good for quick reading to search for information. Real reading is, after all, a paper book. These are completely different media with different purposes.

The scandal around the Library of Foreign Literature is a case of our time. Its participants are typical heroes in typical circumstances in which cultural institutions find themselves, where power changes. In some cases - by order of the relevant ministry, here - by the will of inexorable death, which took away the long-term director of Inostranka Yekaterina Yurievna Genieva. In her place in 2015, Vadim Duda came, according to his version - with the recommendation of Genieva, according to the fighters against him - thanks to the patronage of the Ministry of Culture. The conflict did not erupt immediately, but after the director began, according to his assurances, to update the library in the spirit of the times; on the conviction of the resigned employees, to its destruction. They formulated their accusations in an open letter, which was signed by 2,000 people. The main ones are the lack of specialized education, the reduction of key departments, the suspension of recruitment, the dismissal of leading employees. One of these claims is sufficient to public opinion stood up to defend trampled rights and high aspirations. And I also stood there, but still decided to listen to the other side of the conflict. After all, it is interesting to understand whether one person can crush the life work of generations of brilliant professionals and what means are needed for this. During a long and nervous conversation with Vadim Duda, skeletons fell out of the closets, the ghost of the prosecutor's office loomed, serious accusations were heard (documents are available in the editorial office).

- Let's start with the claims that are being made against you.

- Let's start with the one who makes the claim.

- Who makes a claim to you?

- I would like to know that too. There is such a widespread formula: "English scientists have proved that ..." or: "From anonymous sources it became known ...". These "anonymous sources" I would very much like to identify. But since there are a number of claims, I am, of course, ready to talk about it, even if these are anonymous sources.

- Very specific people came out on the Sunday picket. Do you know who it was?

- I carefully looked at this picket, one of the posters “Stop spreading rot (or ruining, I don’t remember) culture”. To be honest, I myself would love to stand with this poster.

Sometimes it happens: a wave of protest rises, people are not very ready to understand the problem, but they readily get involved in the struggle. I saw only one familiar face there, and I don't really understand who these people are, what their requirements are ...

- Well, in this case, the requirements are quite specific: a) against dismissals, b) against the reduction of leading departments, c) for your dismissal. But as far as I understand, the first protests were caused by the closure of the American Center. Did you lack the influence to defend it, or did you not consider it necessary to defend it?

“It's a moth-wasted story, a myth. The center was not closed for a single second. We simply stopped receiving money from the American embassy, ​​because the contract between the library and the US Department of State, as it was, could not be renewed for many reasons.

- Why did he not raise complaints from Genieva, who opposed the closure of this center?

- So I am against the closure. We now support the center for extra-budgetary funds of the library, proving by our deeds our good intentions and desire to continue cooperation. And, by the way, the audience of the American Center is not decreasing, on the contrary, it is growing.

- Then what does not suit you in this contract?

- Let's just say: I am against any questionable transactions with library money and against confusing, indirect management schemes.

- And the Turkish center was also closed at the time of the deterioration of relations with Turkey, without any political overtones?

- There will always be a political background, but this means: if relations with a certain country are going through a difficult period, it means that matters should be all the more in perfect order. The attendance of the Turkish Center was several people a year. For comparison - in the Center for Slavic Cultures, opened in its place, at least 200-300 per month. We had an agreement with the Russian-Turkish Association for Cooperation, in which there was an obligation to financially support the center from the Turkish side. By the time it closed, we hadn't been paid for four months. And, in principle, all this hype around Turkey was such a trigger in order to see: what is happening with the Turkish center.

Probably, if I were a very experienced politician, I would sit and think: "Let's close it in a month or two, while the fuss subsides a little." But I'm not a politician, so we just stopped supporting this center.

- That is, what looks like an ideological order in the pickets is a dispute between business entities for you?

- The issue of contractual relations with the American Embassy arose long before the exacerbation of disagreements between our countries, just a new wave gave it a political sound. We simply do not consider it possible that, for example, in the American Center employees of the embassy work part-time, who manage an entire subdivision of the library, and the calculations were carried out outside the Russian legal field. So it's really not about ideology.

- Does the reduction in manning, which you blame, also have a simple explanation?

- Let's clarify the terminology first. We have not and never had any reduction in manning. This is the key function of the library. No library staff member has been fired and never will. They are the elite of the library, and we will always cherish them.

Vadim Duda. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New"

- And who fired the head of the recruiting department and who were the 11 people who left?

- In the complex acquisition department there was an international book exchange group. I had complaints about this particular group, about the way things are being done there. Absolutely opaque from the point of view of document flow and in violation of all conceivable norms - library, accounting, ethical. I talked many times with the management of the department, urging to put things in order and tune in to the only priority - the acquisition of the library with new foreign books, periodicals, subscription databases.

You don't need to be a deep expert in librarianship to understand what is going on. The work of the acquisition department was to a large extent subordinated to the tasks, first of all, of the "monetary" book exchange.

How did it work? Books, including those bought for budgetary funds, went to the book exchange fund. Then the books were sent to the address of the library partners. The library paid for postage. And then the money for the books sent to the library did not end up.

Compliance with the rules for accounting for receipts and disposals would break the existing scheme of monetary book exchange. Therefore, these rules were not followed.

Here is an inventory book of the international book exchange. Separate pages are punched and inserted into such a daddy. Sheet number 3. What do you think is the next sheet number?

- In theory, 4.

- 49. The inventory book is not stitched, there is no end-to-end numbering ... So, you are now pulling out the sheet, and we are losing the entire history of these books.

Here's the most opaque one. Disposal, sorry for the term, from the fund. The meaning is this: when a book is received, it becomes part of the library fund. In order for it to be eliminated from it, there must be grounds. There is nothing here. Only coded information about partners, addressees of dispatches. For example, SS 168 stands for Stanford University Library. The act of disposal of the book must be recorded in the accounting department. This was not done, because, again, the whole scheme would break down, since the liabilities taken into account would be payable to the accounts of the library, and not to some external ones.

- Is it a crime or negligence?

- I cannot give such an assessment. At the very least, negligence. Believe me, if you show this inventory book to any librarian, he will say: "Immediately take an inventory, seal the funds, stop such activities." What was done internal order January 27, 2017.

- Did the responsible employees of the book exchange give you explanations on these issues?

- We have discussed this many times. The main message was: "We have been doing this for 20 years." Here are the entries in the inventory book, these codes mean shipment to foreign partners. Before sending, an invoice was issued ( a document containing a list of goods, their quantity and the price at which they were delivered to the buyer). Look at the title, it was written on behalf of Inostranka. The recipient is a highly respected European State Library.

- So you suspect that the money went by the library to offshore?

- I have every reason to think so. There were definitely no receipts to the library. And until we are clear, we cannot continue this activity. It is absolutely unacceptable to hide behind lofty slogans about the interests of society and to do business using dirty mechanisms and gray schemes. This is not only reflected in us. Imagine a simple situation: an auditor comes to the aforementioned European library and asks to document settlements with Inostranka. And we will not be able to confirm that the money for the sent books was received. This is a serious blow to the library's reputation.

- What did the head of the department say to your claims?

- The head, along with his deputy, resigned of their own free will the next day after the release of the order to suspend book exchange. They are pensioners, we did not even have the opportunity to organize the transfer of cases - we were obliged to fire them the next day.

- Do you think that Ekaterina Yuryevna Genieva was not embarrassed by this state of affairs?

“I don’t think she knew all the details. I know that she was an honest, decent person who trusted people. How people enjoyed this trust is another story. Let's admit, any head of a large institution signs many documents, and it is not always possible to study them in detail, you need to rely on people who are dealing with their issues.

- Have you transferred these documents to the prosecutor's office?

- We will follow the law. Now we are conducting an internal audit, inventory, and assessing the scale of the problems. Further it will be clear how to proceed.

- Why did people so fearlessly go to confrontation, if they knew that they were vulnerable?

- Firstly, the documents that I showed you were discovered after they were fired. We did not publish them, which was perceived as weakness, but this is a question of the library's reputation, attitude to the memory of respected people.

My guess is that people have been doing this kind of transaction for so long that they really think it's okay. Nobody touched them for 20 years, and then a “culture killer” appears and suddenly prohibits everything. I fully admit that most of the ordinary employees were not in the know. Those who led the process probably knew about it.

- That is, 11 people quit not only as a sign of solidarity?

“They quit because they disagree with my order to suspend the book exchange until we describe all the necessary procedures and put things in order. Cleanliness is the key word for me in this situation. By the way, there are also big questions about efficiency. For example, in 2013, the University of Oxford Library sent us a letter refusing to continue book exchange due to economic inefficiency.

- What happened to the exhibition department, which you practically closed?

- We have a wonderful project “Model Libraries in the Regions”. Last year we made two turnkey libraries. One is in the village of Bogolyubovo, this is between Suzdal and Vladimir, the other is in the village of Baturino, in the Ryazan region. Five people went to the Bogolyubov library a day. Together with the regional authorities, we made it into good sense, a western-looking library, it has become the center of village life. The governor drew attention to the library, repaired the road leading to it, straightened the fence. Now there are no empty seats .

For us, participation in such projects costs about 2 million rubles for each library, while the activities of the exhibition department cost us about a million for one exhibition. Spending 11 million a year on a department whose activities largely duplicate the work of the department of cultural and educational programs is waste. A foreign woman is, first of all, a library, and we must help the development of libraries in the country, provide them with resources and, excuse me, get rid of such fire pipes ( shows a rusty stump - see photo).

This is how the fire pipes of the library looked like before the renovation. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New"

- That is, someone who wants to arrange an exhibition donated money to a specific person for using the area of ​​the exhibition department?

- There is every reason to believe that this was the case.

Moreover, when one of the library employees came to the designer of the exhibition department on my instructions - to prepare materials for the presentation of the aforementioned Bogolyubov library - they demanded cash from him.

- Because of one culprit, the entire department is unlikely to leave, which means that they all had their own reasons.

- Out of 10, five left. The rest went to the department of cultural and educational programs.

- It's strange for me to hear about self-interest in these walls. From time immemorial, mostly unmercenaries have worked here out of love for humanitarian knowledge.

- And here the absolute majority of people are just like that: honest and disinterested. The situation I told you about is not the rule, but the exception.

I deeply respect my colleagues and, above all, those who relate to the library departments. They are real professionals, bearers of the spirit of the Inostranka. We have so many things to do for librarians that rumors of layoffs are bullshit.

- How did the library staff perceive these dismissals?

- Of course, emotionally, there is a lot of negative outside. But the library staff signed a letter in support of my actions.

- I saw it. But I also saw a letter in which 2 thousand people spoke out for your dismissal.

- There are 2 thousand people who do not know the situation, but are ready to defend ideals. Well, who would refuse to protect culture? I can't show everyone the documents and tell everyone about the current state of affairs. And the signatures of librarians are the support of people who know everything from the inside, you cannot buy them with slogans and proclamations.

- Does the struggle for the cleanliness of the ranks distract from the routine work? After all, in the electronic age, library functions need to be debugged again?

- The work is in progress. Suspended book exchanges are not the main source of income. The purchase of books continues, the acquisition has not stopped. Now you need to implement new system information support, build processing technology, equip the production area and concentrate all this in one place.

There are more difficult tasks. Provide the library with money. The ruble became twice cheaper for last couple years. The main source of acquisition for Leninka or Public is a legal deposit, which these libraries receive free of charge. We, in contrast to them, need targeted sources of financing specifically for recruiting. At the same time, our acquisition profile is a quarter of a century old. During this time, a lot has changed. And what will happen in 10 years? What should remain in the fund in paper, and what in the form of subscriptions or in files on our servers?

Much has changed in the political sphere as well. Let's say that earlier Ukraine was part of the USSR, and Ukrainian Literature was not included in the sphere of interests of Inostranka. Now we need to carefully look at what is happening in Ukraine, the Baltic states, in other countries, and leave a documentary memory of this time. It is clear that someone has to establish proportions between languages, countries, groups; a person is needed who will take on this extremely important work for the library.

It is important not just to fire someone, it is important who will deal with these issues further. An experienced manager has already taken up the position of deputy director for work with funds, who, while working in Leninka, reduced the processing time for books from several months to 10 days. Now we are looking for a person with good knowledge and understanding of the foreign literature market, with a good vision of the long-term prospect of acquisition, to lead the content part.

- Are you working on an electronic catalog?

- The problem is serious. We have about 5 million storage units, of which about 2 million are books. The only way to achieve full relevance of the electronic catalog and the fund is to carry out its physical reconciliation, literally - manually. And only experienced librarians can do this. There is one more problem - our book depository. We just physically have nowhere to accept books. We will survive 2017, and we will not be able to continue this way.

Vadim Duda. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / "New"

- Obviously, one of the solutions is an external book depository.

- What kind of books can you take out to external storage?

- We provide about 100 thousand book loans a year and are proud of the fact that the process from order to receipt takes a maximum of 15 minutes. Even if we assume that all 100 thousand - unique books, which means that 5% of the total fund participates in the lending. It is necessary to assess the fund that is in demand and will be in demand. This does not mean that we can abandon the rest, but it is not necessary to keep everything in the book depository of a library in the very center of Moscow.

- As far as I know, abroad in general, you can order a book automatically, without any participation in the issuance of a librarian ...

- Yes, this is done in many libraries. You can order and submit the book yourself through an automatic receiving device. But technological innovation is not a cheap pleasure, you have to look for money.

- And what does “seek” mean? Can you earn money yourself or not?

- We have a fairly decent flow of extra-budgetary money, but it will not be enough to modernize the library.

- So I'm asking, what are the ways for you to make money?

- The library should not earn money, the library should convince the founder - the state that we are engaged in socially demanded business. It is important to properly organize public funding. I don't believe in the story of making money for serious infrastructure investments. Although we do have sponsors.

- Are you saying that readers are not paying for anything now?

- All basic library services are completely free.

- And, for example, if you need to photocopy a book?

- Of course, there are a number of paid services, which include making copies. And we will develop this direction. But basic library services will remain free of charge to readers.

- Is it possible to earn money, for example, by taking fines from the reader for an expired book?

- Bad way, I think. If there is a task to make money, someone should be responsible for the growth of certain items of income. We say to the librarian: "You are responsible for the increase in the number of fines." And so he begins not to accept books on time, to build a scheme for the growth of these fines. Some kind of non-positive way.

We need to ensure that the fund receives about 10 thousand foreign books a year. It turns out about half a million US dollars, which is about 30-35 million rubles. We cannot do without targeted support from the founder.

- I saw the figure of 18 million last year.

- In 2016, about 21 million were spent on acquisition. In addition to books, there are also subscriptions to electronic databases, this is about 8 million a year, and periodicals. It is possible that one of the ways readers can access modern books is through print-on-demand. The cost of printing on demand can be about 1.0-1.5 thousand rubles, which is clearly less than the cost of buying a book.

- Do you still have a rare book department?

- Of course. About 75 thousand books are a unique collection. By the way, this was another question for the exhibition department, which spent library money on external projects and paid little attention to the disclosure of our collection.

— NS Is the attendance increasing or decreasing?

- Attendance is growing, there are days when it is difficult to get here. But the number of readers, we honestly admit, has not grown.

- What is it connected with?

- At some point, we lost a certain core of our audience, it happened around 2008-2010, according to the estimates of old employees, when the connection between recruiting and reading rooms was broken.

- How do you feel about the talks about the unification of the RSL and Public library In St. Petersburg?

- And now there is nothing to relate to ... I have one simple question: is there a plan? And what is meant by unification? And what is the purpose? Opponents of the unification speak mainly of massive cuts and savings of one hundred million public funds. This is not serious, not to mention the fact that it is not true. To that end, talking about the development of libraries is ridiculous.

You need to consider the interests of at least three audiences. The first is the readers. How will the service improve? What will happen to the fund? Will our national libraries be the best in the world? And we, alas, are seriously lagging behind both in quantity and quality of services, technologies, scientific research... But the main thing is that we are no longer the most reading country in the world. And these considerations and problems must and will be the main drivers of change.

Second. Employee interests. Any plan that plagues librarians, carriers of the unique genetic code of great libraries, is a bad plan.

And the third is the issue of effective spending budget funds, growth not only in attendance, but also in the number of readers. Let's be honest: the interest in the topic of libraries, which arose after rumors about the horrors of the "merger", did not lead to a discussion of the main problem - the quiet dying of libraries as educational centers. National Libraries should be not only a model, but also an engine of development, a way out of a dull and dilapidated existence. And here we cannot do without understanding where we are going and what we are doing.

Now the opinion of all audiences does not coincide, and, I am sure, there will be a search for a balance. But any solution requires a clear plan and broad public discussion.

Vadim Duda has been appointed director of the Library for Foreign Literature (VGBIL)

The new director of the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature is the ex-rector of the Academy for the Retraining of Art, Culture and Tourism Workers.

With a proposal to appoint Vadim Duda to this post to the Minister of Culture Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky was approached by prominent figures in the library sphere - Director of the Russian State Library (RSL) Alexander Visly, General Director of the State Public Scientific and Technical Library (GPNTL) Yakov Shraiberg, General Director of ELAR (Electronic Archive) Sergei Balandyuk and Rector of Kemerovo State University of Culture and arts Ekaterina Kudrina.

In their letter to the Minister, in particular, it is said that “now“ Inostranka ”needs a leader who can preserve its special atmosphere, support and develop all the best that has been created and accumulated over the decades, build a balance of relations between the Ministry, the collective, public, international organizations, the entire Inostranka community.

“This leader needs experience in international activities, an understanding of the nuances and specifics of working in a multicultural and multilingual environment, professional managerial qualities, a charge of energy and positive energy to maintain a“ self-developing library ”and implement strategic development plans. In our opinion, such a leader could be Vadim Valerievich Duda, rector of the Academy of Retraining of Art, Culture and Tourism Workers.

Over the next three months, Vadim Duda will work on the development of a concept for the development of the VGBIL, which will be submitted for discussion by the board of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. This was stated by State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Grigory Ivliev during a meeting of the new head with the library staff.

“It is impossible to replace such an outstanding cultural figure as Yekaterina Genieva,” said Grigory Ivliev. - Thanks to Ekaterina Yurievna, the library is now moving along the path of innovative development, setting the tone for the use of the latest technologies, generously sharing its experience with colleagues. Vadim Duda will continue the traditions established by Ekaterina Genieva. The library of foreign literature will remain the most important cultural center in Russia ”.

First of all, we are talking about the program for the development of VGBIL until 2018, which sets out the directions of development, priority tasks and strategic goals. This document was approved by Ekaterina Genieva. It is important to note that the prospects and priorities outlined in this document are relevant not only for Inostranka, but for the entire library industry as a whole. “When choosing candidates for the post of the new General Director of Inostranka, we took into account, first of all, the availability of experience and competencies that would make it possible to implement this program,” emphasized Grigory Ivliev.

The deputy head of the department also noted that Vadim Duda was one of the key participants in the development of the concept, terms of reference, the formation of the NEB, bringing this system to a new level, which makes it possible to turn a corporate project into state system, the space of electronic knowledge. The program pays a lot of attention to the issues of digitization of funds, the need to coordinate the activities of federal libraries in this matter. The NEL system contains just such a functionality that allows large libraries to coordinate and plan their work without duplicating efforts.

Invaluable assistance was provided by Ekaterina Yurievna in the most important initiative of the ministry - the development of a model standard for the activities of public libraries. The idea of ​​the need to transform libraries into demanded information, cultural and communication centers was taken as a basis. As the rector of APRIKT, Vadim Valerievich oversaw the development of the model standard and model libraries... Serious research work was carried out to study international experience space planning, services, information interaction models, conceptual models of new type libraries have been developed. The results of this work are published on the website novaibliboteka.rf. But, perhaps, the most important result of this work was the decision of the collegium of the Ministry of Culture to create pilot sites in the regions of Russia in 2015. Such sites are now being created in Sochi, Crimea, Vladimirskaya and Ryazan regions by the APRIKT team.

For reference:

Vadim Duda was born on December 24, 1964. In 1991 he graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) with a degree in mechanical engineer with a diploma in English. In 2005 he received an MBA (American Institute of Business and Economics).

In 2012-2013, he worked as director of the Department of Information Policy and International Relations of the Ministry of Culture, was an adviser to the Minister of Culture. He was involved in the development of libraries, the creation of the National Electronic Library (NEL), worked on the creation of the Center's library children's creativity in Sochi.

In the fall of 2015, after the death of the former director, Vadim Duda became the new head of the Library for Foreign Literature. The transformations he began to carry out generated controversy. talked to Duda and asked him to clarify the situation.

"Lenta.ru": Many media outlets have recently reported about problems in the Library of Foreign Literature: employees are forced to leave, departments are liquidated, the book depository has been sealed ...

Duda: Nothing is closed. Indeed, in the fall of last year, the book depository was sealed by bailiffs in connection with claims to fire safety. But from December 1, we have no restrictions, the library is completely open.

What can you say about layoffs?

Not a single person was fired on our initiative. I signed in January two internal documents... The first concerned international book exchange, the second - the exhibition department. About book exchange - earlier in October there was already an order on strict observance of the rules of document flow and legislation in international book exchange. The January order suspended the book exchange due to very serious discrepancies with the requirements of the law.

What were the differences?

This concerned the execution of library accounting documents. I have every reason to believe that this activity was, to put it mildly, non-transparent. The bottom line is that the entry into the fund and the "exit" of books outside the library should be documented in a certain way, so that you can always determine where, on what grounds, and for what purpose the book was sent. There are a number of requirements for such accounting.

That is, you suspect that the people responsible for this process profited from the international book exchange?

I cannot say this, it is not in my competence. I can only state that I have every reason to speak about the opacity and illegality of this activity and the impossibility of its continuation in this form in Inostranka. I will also note that the library did not receive money as a result of this activity.

What order are we talking about?

The point is not only in the amounts, although they were rather big. In my opinion, "Inostranka" with its reputation created by the efforts of respected and famous people, simply cannot be part of some gray, completely opaque schemes.

1 /10

In what form, in your opinion, should the international book exchange be carried out? People who used to work in the library, in an interview “ Open Russia"They say that" many of the old partners have already turned their backs on "Inostranka", the rest continue to cooperate according to old memory. "

Why do old partners turn away? I am convinced that working with such wonderful partners as the State Library of Berlin or the Library of Congress should be completely honest and mutually beneficial. Let me give you an example - now we cannot reconcile settlements with our partners, since many transactions were not documented. This means that we will not be able to provide any legally significant documents to partners for audit. And this can be a serious problem for anyone. large library... If we do not fully comply with the laws, then we will definitely lose both partners and reputation.

Your library staff claims that they were forced to write their resignation letters of their own free will and created an environment in which they simply had to quit.

I’m not a very good psychologist or psychotherapist, but I’ll say this: if the requirements to comply with law and order are psychological pressure, then we really exerted very strong psychological pressure. Employees wrote letters of resignation because they disagree with these requirements. They have been doing this for many years, it is their right. And they received compensation upon dismissal.

They say that they sent letters of resignation to departments, without signatures, thus prompting them to sign these papers.

What is an unsigned letter of resignation? I do not know if you have dealt with government or budgetary institutions, but not everything is so easy with us. I can't just fire an employee. There are certain procedures.

So you completely deny what it was?

Rumors about "execution lists", about the distribution of statements, in my opinion, are created in order to scare employees who fundamentally disagree with the opinion of those who quit. There is an overwhelming majority of such employees, among them are reputable employees with many years of experience, our gold fund ... I am ready to responsibly declare that there are no plans to lay off employees and there are no requirements from such a plan. This is especially true for the employees of the library departments - our elite, we have always supported and will continue to support them.

Have you tried to somehow work on the atmosphere in the team, to rally it?

We have a close-knit team, the backbone of our team is the same librarians who have devoted their entire lives to Inostranka. I think with horror that some of them will want to retire, because they are not only a storehouse of information and invaluable experience, but also an example of absolutely honest service to their cause. We have a complete understanding with the overwhelming majority of employees: where we are going, what priorities are important for development modern library... And I want to preserve this atmosphere, because I am part of this unique team.
The negative comes from external sources. Information that has not been confirmed by documents, rumors and speculation are being discussed. I am sure, as soon as all the facts are verified, receive an appropriate assessment and are published, the foam will subside.

Photo: Library of Foreign Literature

According to your employees, you said that “every square meter of the library should be sold”, bring money ...

About "sale square meters"- this is not for me, I have never set such tasks. I have always been in favor of spending public funds as efficiently as possible. The library, like any other cultural institution, is interested in increasing attendance. Therefore, in 2015-2016, we asked to vacate the premises of all tenants who do not fit into the concept of the library's development. This concept was approved by Ekaterina Yuryevna Genieva with the Board of Trustees in 2012.

Is the library for you, first of all, a well-coordinated, optimally operating enterprise or an educational project?

Of course, an educational project. It's a library! But the need to comply with the law is quite obvious. The library cannot be part of some strange circuitry.

Why was the exhibition department closed?

Here you need to prioritize - first the library, then everything else. Let me give you an example. In two years, the ruble has depreciated enough, and we buy books abroad. I really want to keep the volume of receipts, which requires more money. We have serious fire safety problems and many more library-related problems that will be costly to solve.
In such difficult times, spending 11 million rubles on 12 exhibition projects a year is fundamentally wrong, we simply cannot afford it. In addition, we have a department for cultural programs with very similar functions. 5 out of 10 employees of the exhibition department wrote letters of resignation by agreement of the parties, with payment of compensation, the rest remained in the library and will continue to engage in this activity.

The problem with fire safety has been around since 2010. Why hasn't it been resolved?

The main complaint is the absence of an automatic fire extinguishing system in the book depository and a number of other violations. Prescriptions have been issued since 2010, and it looks like this: first a warning is issued, then a fine, then a fine against the director personally. And at some point these opportunities end, you can only go to court and demand the closure of the library, especially given the recent history of the fire on the Altufevskoe highway and in the INION library.
For many reasons, funding - and this is a very impressive amount - was not organized. I would like to note that at the end of last year we managed to agree on financing from the Ministry of Culture, a state contract was signed. The automatic fire extinguishing system will be introduced in July this year.

The library housed the American Cultural Center ...

Why are you speaking in the past tense? The American Center has not been closed for a second, it is still open, and it is exactly the same as it was two years ago. We stopped receiving money from the embassy because the type of agreements signed between the library and, unfortunately, did not comply with the norms in many ways. So we continue to support the activities of this center, and we are doing it successfully.

Your Francoteque project received 9,000 books from the French embassy, ​​but the library staff say that the embassy simply did not know where to copy them.

It is strange to hear about such an attitude towards books from librarians, even if they are anonymous ... Perhaps that is why they were afraid to speak openly ... The French Embassy has an Institut Francais organization. They have problems with library space, and when we agreed on the Francoteque project with the French ambassador, the idea was not to create unnecessary competition. We are a library, they are a cultural center. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to some extent library service this organization. I don't see any problems here. "Francoteka" is in demand by our readers, it helps us to increase the audience, including through the received books.

For example, on February 28th we will have the opening of another American Center, in conjunction with Pearson. Next in line are the Italian and Ibero-American centers. We are actively developing libraries in the regions and believe that, as a large federal library, we should help them. "Inostranka" will not remain aloof from the development of digital technologies. Over the year, we have become quite noticeable in the field of virtual services - about 200 regional libraries use our services as an aggregator of digital books.