Mari language and culture preservation and popularization: Rural libraries serving long-standing Mari diaspora communities

This article is based on the findings of several research expeditions to Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. It provides information on the work of rural libraries serving the Mari populace in places where there is a high percentage of ethnic Maris, as well as on the functioning of the Mari language in media and literature and on content consumption in these domains by the local Mari population. Comprehensive sociolinguistic surveys in long-standing Mari diasporas have been conducted since 2024, covering the Mishkino, Sharan, Kaltasy districts of Bashkortostan, the Agryz and Kukmor districts of Tatarstan, and the Achit district of the Sverdlovsk region. The total sample includes 339 respondents aged between 12 and 88, with library staff members also having participated in the survey. One of the questions in the sociolinguistic questionnaire dealt with Mari literature and periodical reading practices. The research findings make it possible to draw conclusions about the state of Mari reading among long-standing Mari diasporas. Several reasons for difficulties with reading in Mari were identified: the spread of information technologies and a decrease in the general need for reading among the population, the closure of Mari-language schools, a reduction in Mari-language students, and the closure of regional specialized educational institutions for training staff for Mari schools. In some regions, difficulties with reading in Mari are caused by differen­ces between local Mari variants and the literary norm of the Mari language. A common problem area in library services for the Mari popu­lace is the meager replenishment of collections with fiction in Mari, as well as interruptions in subscriptions to Mari periodicals. Despite this, library staff are engaged in preserving and popularizing the Mari language, literature, folklore, traditions, customs, games, and tradi­tional medicine, although Russian is increasingly becoming the language of communication at such events that are held especially for younger schoolchildren.