Aid to the Military and Home Front During the Great Patriotic War: Bibliographic Publications of the Main Library of the Country

In 2025, declared in our country according to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin of January 16, 2025, no. 28 as the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War is celebrated. In this regard, it seems relevant to turn once again to the history of the Lenin State Library of the USSR (LSL, now the Russian State Library) and, in particular, to the consideration of its bibliographic activities in 1941—1945. All the work of the LSL was rebuilt on a war footing, the forces of bibliographers were directed to help the active army and workers on the home front. As a result of the analysis of wartime bibliographic aids prepared by the library, 75 editions issued from 1942 to 1945 were identified. The main groups of readers for whom the bibliographic aids were created were identified: combat commanders, agitators and propagandists, librarians, grassroots leadership promoted during the war. The leading type of bibliographic publications created by the State Library during the Great Patriotic War were bibliographic guides. They are brief annotated indexes and lists of literature. The distinctive features of wartime publications are their small volume, clear structure, short annotations, selection of the necessary minimum literature. The content and themes of the bibliographic publications under consideration are related to the training of soldiers of different military specialties and other pressing problems of wartime. The manuals are aimed at patriotic education, assistance in general and professional self-education, and solving economic issues.