Spetskhran as a Distinct Feature of the Soviet System

The article examines the history of the Soviet Spetskhran as an institution that embodied the systemic features of the Soviet civilization: closeness, secrecy, ideological control, and bureaucratization. The study traces the evolution of this institution, which was part of an elaborated system of censorship and an instrument for the limited distribution of information. The formation of the Soviet institution of Spetskhran began immediately after the revolution of 1917, and by the end of the 1930s, it had taken its final form. The end of the Stalinist era marked a new period characterized by abandonment of the practice of mass purges of libraries and the gradual expansion of the availability of collections. The article explores the specifics of the selection of literature for Spetskhran in libraries and the conditions for readers to gain access to them. The disappearance of the Communist Party’s ideological control and the abolition of censorship led to the liquidation of the Spetskhran institution.