Eugene Hlebtsevich and the establishment of free
public libraries in Belarus in the early twentieth century in the
context of socio-political and cultural processes of the time
In the early twentieth-century in Czarist
Russia, as well as on its national border regions, including in
Belarus (the so-called North-West province), there was a series of
democratic processes. There was a massive struggle for social
emancipation, which resulted in the Revolution 1905 - 1907 period,
resulting from the tsarist monarchy was forced to transform itself
into a constitutional (launched Duma). On the outskirts of the
national struggle for social emancipation and reinforced by a
battle for national interests. Tsarist government to make certain
concessions. So, December 25, 1904 was repealed a ban on the
Belarusian word in print, which operated since 1867. They began to
legally leave their native language Belarusian books, newspapers
and magazines. Intensified theatrical musical life. Unequivocal
national coloring acquired paintings. In general, this was the
period of the Belarusian national revival. On the
cultural-historical arena there are such giants as Yanka Kupala and
Yakub Kolas in the literature, Ihnat Bujnicki in the theatrical
sphere, Euthymios Kars in philology and bibliography, Eugene
Hlebtsevich in Librarianship. In 1902, he formed the first
Belarusian National Party AAH (Belarusian Socialist Gromada) -
Leading party of students, officials and writers. In 1903,
delegates of the Congress I took AAH program aimed at achieving
autonomy of Belarus. In 1906 at the II Congress of the AAH thesis
autonomy was deepened and assigned, supplemented by the idea of
convening the Diet. The most important centers of the Belarusian
national revival were then Vilna, Minsk, Grodno and Petersburg,
which uchilos many young people from Belarus, especially in the
Grodno region.
In the wake of the national liberation movement
arose Belarusian scientific-literary circle of students of St.
Petersburg University. Members of the circle, and the first known
later library activist Eugene Hlebtsevich, who initiated the
establishment of free public libraries in Belarus. As the historian
of librarianship MI Bye, "was created 11 public libraries: nine in
the Grodno province and two in Minsk. They distributed literature
among the residents of more than 100 villages "[1, pp. 55]. The
basis of these libraries were progressive book publisher FF
Pavlenkov. Brother Eugene Hlebtsevicha Vladimir wrote that "a
well-known publisher Pavlenkov donated as a bequest capital on the
device of public libraries" [2, pp. 139]. Active participation in
the selection of literature for public libraries and their supply
has democratic intelligentsia of Belarus. For example, Yanka
Kupala, who was at that time in St. Petersburg, ensure peoples
library of publications of Belarusian publishing house "Look sonce
і ® our akontsa. Members of the Belarusian scientific and literary
circles of St. Petersburg University bustled about getting books
from publishers "Knowledge", "mediator" and others, organized
evenings and concerts, part of the collection of which was to
purchase books for public libraries. At the request of members of
the group Petersburg Academy of Sciences as an exception to free
allocated libraries works of Russian classical literature, sent
their books Tolstoy, Gorky, Serafimovich. Due to public libraries
Belarusian peasants first opportunity to get acquainted with the
works of their national writers Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, aunts,
F. Bahuљeviи and others, with the first Belarusian newspaper "Our
share" and "Nasha Niva".
The idea of free public libraries, the desire to
make the book accessible to the masses organically fit into the
socialist ideology, which had been committed and Eugene
Hlebtsevich, an active worker masses. At the invitation of aunts,
he took part in the II Congress of AAH [3, pp. 194, 4, pp. 70, 5,
pp. 310, 6, pp. 652]. He was personally acquainted with many
members of this party: the same aunt, K. lanterns, A. Burbisom and
others. The idea of socialism in the best sense of the word is
quite close to the Belarusian mentality, our character. Since
ancient times Belarus has its peculiar distribution of popular
socialism - toloka. During the agricultural works provided free
collective assistance to those in need: widows, soldiers wives,
lonely elderly people. Do not accidentally press organs of the
Belarusian Socialist masses of the newspaper "Our share" and
especially "Nasha Niva" were truly all-country newspapers. At the
Library Science and literary themes in them actively published
Eugene Hlebtsevich.
Socialist ideology, in its ideal, in the correct,
undistorted form and is close to universal values, the Christian
religion. Father Eugene Hlebtsevicha had direct relevance to the
spiritual service. Ivan Hlebtsevich taught arithmetic, ancient
Greek and Latin languages, geography in Zhirovichi a religious
school and also headed the library Zhirovichi monastery. "In the
library very often visited his son, Eugene. He studied with his
father, as one must be able to read the book, to know it ", - notes
the modern ethnographer SN Chigrin [7, pp. 27]. Any library appears
to us as a kind of temple, especially the monastic library - this
is all we can say, a temple in the temple. Thus, since early
childhood Eugene Hlebtsevich had the opportunity to partake of Gods
great gift book, dreaming of making it socially meaningful,
accessible to all people. While studying Zhirovichi boy in a
religious school and Vilna Orthodox seminary only strengthened this
desire. Then, when Eugene Hlebtsevich was already a student at St.
Petersburg University, plans to "Library of socialism" were
translated into real life. Connected to this work and father
Eugene. In the village of the district Kleniki Belsky Grodno
province, he headed the free public library, reading room named
after FF Pavlenkova, opened in 1907 through the efforts of his son
Eugene. At the same time here in Klenikah, Ivan Hlebtsevich served
in the local church Orthodox priest.
In 1911, Eugene Hlebtsevich attended the First
All-Russia Congress of Librarianship, where a presentation on
"Library Development in Belarus", in which great attention paid to
the activity of free public libraries. In 1912, students circle has
issued a pamphlet in Kovno E. Hlebtsevicha “Libraries and
cooperation", one of the first works on the theory and the
organization of library science. Naturally, the basis for the
organization of library work by the author on the principle of the
socialist formation and functioning of national libraries. How
researcher of library science he wrote another book "The mass
reader and anti-religious propaganda", "general reader, and work
with the book, the first of which was published in Moscow and
Leningrad in 1928, the second - in Moscow in 1936. The works were
written in the spirit of socialism, in the spirit of social
justice, equality and democracy reader. E. Hlebtsevich still very
concerned about meeting the reading needs of the common man, and
anti-religious propaganda was to impose the Soviet socio-political
model is a travesty and distorts the true socialism. As literary
critic E. Hlebtsevich published in St. Petersburg in 1914 the book
"Revival of the Belarusian populist literature", reprinted in 1917
under the title "Populist Poetry Belarusians.
Domestic cultural studies and literary AM
Petkevich with regret that Eugene Hlebtsevich "in 1930 was forced
to flee from the Belarusian intellectuals fleeing pogroms in
Russia" [8, pp. 24]. In general, Eugene Hlebtsevich went down in
history as the famous Belarusian, and then the Russian researcher
of library science as the best man of his time, the initiator of
creation in Belarus network of free public libraries. Ideas
Hlebtsevicha accessible books, knowledge and education lives in our
country today.