Notes
Pavel, Kolář, “The party as a new utopia: reshaping communist identity after Stalinism”, Social History, No. 4, Vol. 37, November 2012, p. 405.
Daina, Bleiere, “Padomju otrreizējā okupācija Latvijā” [Second Soviet occupation of Latvia], Nacionālā enciklopēdija, 2025. URL: https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/22220-padomju-otrreizej%C4%81-okup%C4%81cija-Latvij%C4%81, consulted the 13/11/2025.
Daina Bleiere, “Vispārējās izglītības sovetizācija Latvijā: padomju cilvēka veidošana mācību procesā (1944–1964)” [Sovietisation of general education in Latvia: forming the Soviet personality within the educational process (1944–1964)], Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Žurnāls, No. 1, 2013, p. 104.
This duplicitous attitude towards Soviet power was also evident in other republics of the Soviet Union. See: Elena Zdravomyslova, Viktor Voronkov, “The Informal Public in Soviet Society: Double Morality at Work”, Social Research, No. 1, Vol. 69, 2002, p. 49–69.
This is evidenced by articles in the Latvian press about public libraries in the USA and elsewhere at the beginning of the 20th century. See for example: Kristaps Alksnis, “Tautas lasītavas Anglijā” [Public reading rooms in England], Dienas Lapa, No. 271, 1901, p. 2; Jēkabs Janovskis, “Tautas bibliotēkas un lasītavas Vācijā” [Public libraries and reading rooms in Germany], Rīgas Avīze, No. 134, 1902, p. 1; Jānis Stalažs, “Bērnu bibliotēka Amerikā” [Children's library in America], Rīgas Avīze, No. 124, 1903, p. 1.
Teodors Līventāls, Kā nodibināt un iekārtot bibliotēku?, Rīga, A. Golts, [1913], p. 58.
UDC: Universal Decimal Classification: Standard Edition, Vol. 1 – Systematic tables, British Standard Institution, 2005, p. vii.
The State Library of Latvia published a regular index of new publications “Valsts bibliotēkas biļetens: Latvijas bibliogrāfijas žurnāls” [State Library bulletin: Latvia's bibliography journal] (1927‒1943) and index to Latvian periodicals “Latviešu zinātne un literatūra” [Latvian Science and Literature] (1920‒1940).
Voldemārs Caune, Decimālā klasifikācija: saīsinātas tabeles [Decimal Classification: abridged tables], Rīga, Izglītības ministrija, 1920, 20 p.
Voldemārs Caune, Bibliotēkas iekārta [Setting up a library], Rīga, Valtera un Rapas akc.sab., 1929, p. 45.
Nathalie Delougaz, “Adaptations of the Decimal Classification for Soviet Libraries”, The Library Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1947, p. 148.
Eduard Sukiasyan, Knowledge Organization in Russia: Problem-related and Historical Aspects. URL: https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0943-7444-1993-4-189.pdf, consulted the 13/11/2025. See also: Eduard Sukiasyan, Bibliotechno-bibliograficheskaya klassifikatsiya (BBK) – Natsional'naya klassifikatsionnaya sistema Rossiyskoy Federatsii=Library-Bibliographical Classification (LBC) the National classification system of the Russian Federation, Moscov, Russian State Library, 2015, p. 3, URL: http://www.iskoi.org/doc/lbc-en.pdf, consulted the 08/11/2025.
Desyatichnaya mezhdunarodnaya klassifikatsiya knig. Sokrashchennyye tablitsy, sostavlennyye Osoboy komissiyey pri Glavpolitprosvete dlya obyazatel'nogo upotrebleniya v bibliotekakh RSFSR [Universal Decimal Classification of Books. Abbreviated tables compiled by the Special Committee of the Glavpolitprosvet for mandatory use in libraries RSFSR], Gomel', Gos. izd-vo, 1921, 54 p.
Yevgeniy Shamurin, Ocherki po istorii bibliotechno-bibliograficheskoy klassifikatsii [Essays on the history of library and bibliographic classification], Tom II, Moskva, Izd-vo Vsesoyuznoy knizhnoy palaty, 1959, p. 404.
In the Soviet Union, the term 'mass library' (massovaya biblioteka) was used to refer to public libraries. It was apparently introduced to emphasise their accessibility to all and to distinguish them from public libraries in the bourgeois system.
E. Sukiasyan, Knowledge Organization in Russia, op. cit
For more details, see: Aina Štrāle, “Bibliotēka un propaganda (1940.–1941. gads): Latvijas bibliotekārā darba sovetizacijas daži aspekti” [The Library and Propaganda (1940–1941): Some Aspects of the Sovietisation of Latvian Library Work], Latvijas Zinātņu Akadēmijas Vēstis. A, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2002, p. 1–9.
Silvija Sardiko, “Cenzūra bibliotēkā (1940–90)” [Censorship at the Library (1940–90)], Latvijas Nacionālās bibliotēkas raksti, Vol. XIX, 1994, p. 75–78.
Levs Tropovskis, Īsas decimālās klasifikācijas tabulas nelielām bibliotēkām, Rīga, VAPP, 1946, 102 p.
Kārlis Egle, “Grāmatas bibliotēku jautājumos” [Books on library matters], Skolotāju Avīze, No. 51, December 15, 1948, p. 5.
Levs Tropovskis, Īsas decimālās klasifikācijas tabulas nelielām bibliotēkām [Short decimal classification tables for small libraries], Rīga, Latvijas PSR Valsts bibliotēka,1948, 66 p.
Zaharijs Ambarcumjans, Bibliotekārā klasifikācija, two volumes, Rīga, Latvijas Valsts izdevniecība, 1949.
Each publicly available library in the USSR was affiliated with a specific methodological centre whose responsibility it was to ensure that the library's activities aligned with the current policies of the Soviet authorities. The centre responsible for public libraries in Latvia was the State Library of the Latvian SSR (now the National Library of Latvia). The hierarchy of methodological management of libraries in the USSR is explained in this book: Isidor Frumin, Bibliotechnoye delo: organizatsiya i upravleniye, Moskva: Кniga, 1980, p. 218‒227.
Z. Ambarcumjans, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 96–97.
Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 85.
Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 34.
Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 40.
E. Sukiasyan, Bibliotechno-bibliograficheskaya klassifikatsiya (BBK), op. cit., p. 5.
Ibid., p. 6.
Ibid., p. 6–7.
LPSR Valsts Grāmatu palāta, V. Lāča Latvijas PSR Valsts bibliotēka, Bibliotekārā un bibliogrāfiskā klasifikācija: tabulas masu bibliotēkām [Library and bibliographic classification: tables for mass libraries], Rīga, Avots, 1982, p. 10.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 11.
Ibid.
LPSR Valsts Grāmatu palāta, V. Lāča Latvijas PSR Valsts bibliotēka, op. cit., p. 2.
LBC tables project for mass libraries: materials of the meeting of the State Library of the Latvian SSR and mass library staff (in Russian), Latvian State Archives of the Latvian National Archives (LNA LVA), Fund 678, Description 3, File 802, p. 165–169.
Ibid., p. 168.
Notes from the State Library of the Latvian SSR on the LBC tables project for mass libraries (in Russian), LNA LVA, Fund 678, Description 3, File 802, p. 170–175.
Vera Zinkina, “Zinātniskais un bibliogrāfiskais darbs” [Research and bibliographical work], Bibliotēka ‒ zinātnei = Biblioteka ‒ nauke, Rīga, Zinātne, 1973, p. 121.
LPSR Valsts Grāmatu palāta, V. Lāča LPSR Valsts bibliotēka, op. cit.
Anna Mauliņa, “Saules aptumsums tomēr nesākās” [The solar eclipse didn't begin], Bibliotekārs, No. 4, November 1990, p. 2.
V. Lāča LPSR Valsts bibliotēkas administrācijas pavēle Nr. 11 par padomju BBK tabulu ieviešanu bibliotēkas darba praksē [Order No 11 of the Administration of the State Library of the LSSR of Vilis Lācis on the implementation of the Soviet LBC tables in the library's working practice] 18.02.1986. LNA LVA, 235. f., 8. apr., 149. l., p. 9‒10.
Daina Bleiere, “Perestroika”, Nacionālā enciklopēdija, 2023. URL: https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/3859-perestroika, consulted the 13/11/2025.
Lilija Grīnfogele, Sistemātiskā kataloga organizācija pēc BBK [Systematic catalogue organisation according to the BBK], Rīga, LPSR Valsts bibliotēka, 1989.
Anna Mauliņa, “Ceļā uz Nacionālo bibliotēku” [On the road to the National Library], Latvijas Jaunatne, 1990, No. 22, p. 2.
LBC is still Russia's national library classification system, even though its structure has changed. See: E. Sukiasyan, Bibliotechno-bibliograficheskaya klassifikatsiya (BBK), op. cit., p. 2.
V. Lāča LPSR Valsts bibliotēka, Grāmata un lasītājs: socioloģisks pētījums lauku rajonā [The book and the reader: a sociological study in a rural area], Rīga, Zinātne, 1978, p. 143‒144.
Jana Dreimane, “Officially non-existent: storage and use of banned literature in the Soviet Latvia in the 1970s‒1980s”, Knygotyra, 2017, Vol. 68, p. 151‒157.
Until then, library usage had not been analyzed from this perspective. Library sector reports only provided information on the dynamics of library readership over a two-year period in one system: the mass library system.
Stefānija Vilciņa, “Masu bibliotēka un lasītājs laukos” [Public library and the reader in the country-side], Bibliotēku zinātnes aspekti, I (VI), Rīga, Zvaigzne, 1977, p. 56 ; V. Lāča LPSR Valsts bibliotēka, op. cit., p. 97.
Latvijas bibliotēku darba rādītāji 1990 [Indicators of libraries in Latvia, 1990], Rīga, Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka, 1991, p. 5.
A similar situation also existed in the neighboring country of Estonia, which, like Latvia, experienced Soviet occupation. See: Piret Lotman, “Estonian Public Libraries in the Twentieth Century”, in Piret Lotman, Tiina Vilberg, The 20th century libraries in the Baltic Sea region, Tallinn, Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu, 2004, p. 121‒122, URL: https://www.digar.ee/viewer/en/nlib-digar:289070/264829, consulted the 13/11/2025.
Susannah Quick, Gillian Prior et al., “Users' perceptions of the benefits of ICT in public libraries in Latvia: Final report”, 2013. URL: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/6f55797c-c6aa-4cba-86da-3b782c247399/content, consulted the 13/11/2025.
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