The role of the Mordovian Republican Library in the patriotic movement and its support for the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War

The role of the Mordovian Republican Library in patriotic initiatives and its valuable support for the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) is analyzed. Based on archival documents from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Mordovia, it is demonstrated how the library expanded its mission in the wartime by engaging in military and defense training, mastering skills in air raid preparedness and sanitary defense within its self-defense unit, and actively participating in campaigns to collect warm clothing for the front. The financial contributions made by the library’s staff to the national defense fund, including the donations that helped build a tank column and an air squadron, are detailed. The library’s collaboration with rear units and subunits of the Red Army, as well as evacuation hospitals stationed in the Mordovian ASSR, is discussed. Despite the war hardships, the library’s employees, who were mostly women, successfully fulfilled their duties. Their achievements in facilitating mass mobilization were recognized by the Soviet leadership as an important part of the national war effort. Several employees from the library’s staff were honored with state awards in the post-war period.