K. I. Abramov’s contribution to the development of the methodology of library history: historical reconstruction

The article is devoted to the contribution of the famous Russian specialist in library science K. I. Abramov to the methodology of library history, the author of almost 340 publications, of which two-thirds are devoted to history. The importance of his contribution to the development of source studies, historiography, archeography, and library history is emphasized. Based on the principle of historicism and methods of structural analysis, the historical reconstruction of the formation and development of his methodological views was carried out. The external conditions of his formation as a historian are analyzed. It is noted that the formation took place in difficult socio-political conditions. The main conclusions are as follows. The methodological views of K. I. Abramov were based on the relying on archival material, striving to improve the scientific character of historical research, overcoming the desire to reduce research to a superficial presentation and commentary on certain Leninist positions. With his participation, Lenin and Krupskaya’s works on library science were collected and published. At the same time, his worldview was characterized by a dogmatic attitude to Marxism and its methodology, an unconditional adherence to the leading quote, and a non-critical attitude to the statements of the classics of Marxism-Leninism. The Marxist-Leninist doctrine of culture and the library heritage of Lenin and Krupskaya served as a theory in Abramov’s works; the dominance of historical and pedagogical research, which is characterized by following the official interpretation of certain events, simplified presentation of historical processes and events, unambiguity of author’s judgments and assessments, avoiding halftones, exalting achievements while concealing mistakes and failures.

The analysis also showed that in the 1990s, under the influence of socio-political changes and rejection of Marxism-Leninism, Abramov revised his attitude to the history of Soviet library construction. He began to focus on the theory of democracy, in the context of which libraries were seen as a vehicle for democracy, and the leading role in library construction was given to the public library movement. He puts forward the concept of democratic library science, which was formed in the period between the February and October revolutions and was rejected by the Bolsheviks.

The significance of this study is associated with the generalization of Abramov’s methodological heritage aimed at developing the positive aspects of his methodology, as well as overcoming methodologically incorrect judgments about the history of Soviet library construction.

1. Abramov KI (1970a) Librarianship in the USSR: a textbook [Bibliotechnoe delo v SSSR: uchebnik]. 2nd ed. Moscow: Kniga. (In Russ.).

2. Abramov KI (1997a) Librarianship and democracy. Bibliotechnoe delo i demokratiya : tez. dokl. i soobshch. nauch. konf. (08–10 apr. 1997, Moskva). Moscow, vol. 1, pp. 7–12. (In Russ.).

3. Abramov KI (1974a) Librarianship building during the Soviet power first years (1917–1920) [Bibliotechnoe stroitel'stvo v pervye gody Sovetskoi vlasti (19171920)]. Moscow: Kniga. (In Russ.).

4. Abramov KI (1965) More attention to the history of librarianship [Bol'she vnimaniya istorii bibliotechnogo dela]. Bibliotekar' 8: 21–24. (In Russ.).

5. Abramov KI (1953) From the history of library development in Russia in the 1830s – early 1860s [Iz istorii razvitiya bibliotechnogo dela v Rossii v 30-kh – nachale 60-kh gg. XIX veka]: diss. abstr. Moscow. (In Russ.).

6. Abramov KI (1977) Historical sources on the problem "Lenin and librarianship". Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela v SSSR. Moscow, iss. 3, pp. 3–10. (In Russ.).

7. Abramov KI (2000–2001) History of librarianship in Russia: a manual [Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela v Rossii: ucheb.metod. posobie]. In 2 vols. Moscow: Liberiya. (In Russ.).

8. Abramov KI (1980) The history of librarianship in the USSR [Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela v SSSR]. 3 rd ed. Moscow: Kniga. (In Russ.).

9. Abramov KI (1974b) The history of librarianship, the state and prospects of development [Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela, sostoyanie i perspektivy razvitiya]: diss. abstr. Leningrad. (In Russ.).

10. Abramov KI (1960) Lenin on scientific libraries [Lenin o nauchnykh bibliotekakh]. Moscow: MGBI. (In Russ.).

11. Abramov KI (1970b) Lenin plan of librarianship building; a manual [Leninskii plan bibliotechnogo stroitel'stva: posobie po spetskursu]. Moscow: MGBI. (In Russ.).

12. Abramov KI (1990) Legacy of action: interview. Bibliotekar' 4: 3–6. (In Russ.).

13. Abramov KI (1964) On Lenin heritage on librarianship [O Leninskom nasledii po bibliotechnomu delu]. Bibliotekar' 4: 4–6. (In Russ.).

14. Abramov KI (1988) Perestroika and library science by eyes of scientists. Sovetskoe bibliotekovedenie 4: 3–5. (In Russ.).

15. Abramov KI (1997b) Library of Soviet censorship: the reality and myths. Biblioteka v kontekste istorii : materialy nauch. konf. (Moskva, 8–10 iyunya 1995 g.). Moscow, pp. 117–133. (In Russ.).

16. Abramov KI (1993) February Revolution and democratic transformations in librarianship. Bibliotekovedenie 4: 82–94. (In Russ.).

17. Abramov KI (1992) The Swiss-American system and centralization of the librarianship. Biblioteka 9/10: 11–14. (In Russ.).

18. Abramov KI and Vasil'chenko VE (1959) History of librarianship in the USSR (before 1917) [Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela v SSSR (do 1917 g.)]. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya. (In Russ.).

19. Abramov KI and Kuz'ko VA (1963) V. I. Lenin and G. A. Kuklin’s library in Geneva [V. I. Lenin i biblioteka G. A. Kuklina v Zheneve]. Voprosy istorii KPSS 9: 69–70. (In Russ.).

20. Vasil'chenko VE (1958) History of library science in the USSR: a textbook [Istoriya bibliotechnogo dela v SSSR: uchebnik]. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya. (In Russ.).

21. Abramov KI (comp.) (1977) V. I. Lenin and librarianship [V. I. Lenin i bibliotechnoe delo]. 2 nd ed. Moscow: Kniga. (In Russ.).

22. Abramov KI (comp.) (1987) V. I. Lenin and librarianship [V. I. Lenin i bibliotechnoe delo]. 3 rd ed. Moscow: Knizhnaya palata. (In Russ.).

23. Glazkov MN (2016) State library policy of Soviet Russia in the context of the mass libraries’ history (1925 – May, 1941) [Gosudarstvennaya bibliotechnaya politika v Sovetskoi Rossii v kontekste istorii massovykh bibliotek (1925 – mai 1941)]. Moscow: Pashkov dom. (In Russ.).

24. Gromova AA (1961) Activities of the first library society in Russia (on the 50 th anniversary of the 1 st all-Russian congress on library science). Trudy Leningradskogo bibliotechnogo instituta im. N. K. Krupskoi 8: 193–213. (In Russ.).

25. Gromova AA (1957) State of the mass libraries network in St. Petersburg-Petrograd on the eve of the October Revolution (a brief historical sketch). Trudy Leningradskogo bibliotechnogo instituta im. N. K. Krupskoi 3: 181–203. (In Russ.).

26. Dvorkina MY (1997) The moral evaluation of historical events. Biblioteka v kontekste istorii : tez. dokl. i soobshch. nauch. konf. (Moskva, 21–23 okty. 1997). Moscow, pp. 18–20. (In Russ.).

27. (1950) For high idealism, against formalism and objectivism in library theory. Bibliotekar' 3: 1–4. (In Russ.).

28. Kravchenko A (1931) The Institute of Library Science and its current main tasks. Krasnyi bibliotekar' 7: 37–41. (In Russ.).

29. Kravchenko A (1947) On studying the history of librarianship. Bibliotekar' 10: 25–27. (In Russ.).

30. Abramov KI (comp.) (1969) Lenin and librarianship [Lenin i bibliotechnoe delo]. Moscow: Kniga. (In Russ.).

31. Malakhovskii AK (2014) Propaganda and censorship in journalism the United States during the First World War: from neutrality to patriotism. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Literaturovedenie. Zhurnalistika 2: 116–123. (In Russ.).

32. (1949) Constantly improve the ideological level of library work. Bibliotekar' 3: 1–4. (In Russ.).

33. (1964) Social principles – in science. Bibliotekar' 3: 35. (In Russ.).

34. Pashin A (1993) From denial – to the creation. Biblioteka 8: 10–15. (In Russ.).

35. Pleshkevich EA (2018) New pages of the national history of library science: a review. Bibliosfera 1: 89–90. (In Russ.).

36. Serov V (1993) Unexpected turn. Biblioteka 5: 55–56. (In Russ.).

37. Sidorova LA (1997) Soviet historical science of the mid-XX century: synthesis of three generations [Sovetskaya istoricheskaya nauka serediny XX veka: sintez trekh pokolenii]: diss. abstr. Moscow. (In Russ.).

38. Skripkina TI and Firsov GG (1974) About manuals on the history of librarianship. Sovetskoe bibliotekovedenie 3: 84–87. (In Russ.).

39. Solomakha EN (2006) N. L. Rubinstein’s work "Russian historiography": its content and assessment in historical literature [Trud N. L. Rubinshteina «Russkaya istoriografiya»: ego soderzhanie i otsenka v istoricheskoi literature]: diss. abstr. Nizhnii Novgorod. (In Russ.).

40. Kharlamov VI (1991) The phenomenon of library ideology: from the perspective of a historian. Sovetskoe bibliotekovedenie 2: 41–46. (In Russ.).

41. Chernyak A (1971) Both a textbook and monography. Bibliotekar' 8: 60–62. (In Russ.).

42. Shaposhnikov AE (2001a) New training manual. Nauchnye i tekhnicheskie biblioteki 6: 107–111. (In Russ.).

43. Shaposhnikov AE (2001b) The last textbook by K. I. Abramov. Nauchnye i tekhnicheskie biblioteki 11: 82–86. (In Russ.).