History of formation and development of library of Tomsk Man Gymnasium in 1838-1920 (first experience)

The library ofTomsk Man Gymnasium was originally formed absolutely irregularly at the expense of private donations and did not always replenishwith the necessary books, as the gymnasium budget allocated small sums of money. It basically replenished with teaching aids and,partially, compositions of some writers. In the first half of the 19th century its book fund did not satisfy the essential needs of the school.Since the middle of the century the situation gradually changed, which led to better acquisition of gymnasium libraries and to their morepurposeful replenishment. In 1840 the library had 716 volumes of books, and by 1858 the number of books only totaled to 1292. In 1862Tomsk public library which had been opened on January 1, 1863 for local residents merged with the library of the gymnasium. In 1866the main inspector of schools ordered to split the funds of the public and gymnasium libraries, and to found students' library for pupils atTomsk Man Gymnasium. After splitting the gymnasium library into the fundamental and students' ones, the fund of the former wasclassified into 12 thematic departments. The library for pupils had few books. The library of the gymnasium had almost no new books inthe last decades of the19th - beginning of the 20th c. In the beginning of the 20th century the libraries of Tomsk Man Gymnasium wereformed, as a rule, by the literature necessary for the teaching and educational processes. However, it continued to need books forteaching Physics, History, Geography, Natural Sciences. In connection with this situation since 1915 it was offered to fill up pupils'library of the gymnasium annually by books on subjects the teachers needed approved by the Ministry of National Education. Variousperiodicals came in great volumes. Fundamental and pupils libraries were still in an unsatisfactory condition. Administrations ofeducational institutions tried to improve situation, but with the start of World War I, and later the Civil War, the situation worsened. In1917-1919 due to financial problems the library of Tomsk Man Gymnasium could not sufficiently fill up its funds. Since 1918 the needin books increased, and expenses on books were reduced. At that time Siberia was cut off from the central provinces, communicationwith the largest publishing houses in Moscow and Petrograd was interrupted. In 1920 Tomsk Man Gymnasium was closed. Its bookfunds were distributed among different libraries of Tomsk.

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