A Report by the Head of the Leningrad Military Library at the Leningrad Front Headquarters on the State of the Library’s Operation during the Great Patriotic War

The study reveals various aspects of the activities of military libraries during the Great Patriotic War. It does not lose its relevance allowing us to use this experience in similar modern conditions. In addition, the results of such studies supplement information about the history of individual military libraries and the development of domestic military librarianship in general. The goal of the article is to publish the Leningrad Military Library Report sent by its Head, Captain N. Ya. Sirotenko to Colonel [M. A.] Karpov, Deputy Chief for Political Affairs at the Headquarters of the Leningrad Front on October 5, 1943. During the war and the siege of Leningrad, the library continued to operate and provide its services. The document is devoted to daily operational challenges as well as it vividly characterizes the content and working conditions of employees during the Great Patriotic War.The everyday, businesslike tone of the report contrasts with the tense, sometimes tragic atmosphere, in which librarians used to work during the siege. It testifies to the daily mobilization of all the spiritual and physical strength of the defenders of Leningrad. The report is kept in the archive of the Information Center for Historical Studies – the Military Historical Library of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The full text is published for the first time.