Man of the age recalled at the Presidential Library

On Tuesday, November 13, the Presidential Library launched a series of memorial events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of V. N. Zaitsev (1938–2010), which will be held in St. Petersburg this year.

Vladimir Nikolayevich is a acknowledged expert in librarianship, the author of over 60 works on library science problems, the developer of federal laws “On Librarianship” and “On Mandatory Copy of Documents”. Over 25 years (1985–2010) he headed one of the largest libraries in our country and was the President of the Russian Library Association.

The Presidential Library hosted a multimedia exhibition dedicated to his memory as well as a video lecture “Man in the Age”. The events were led by Vladimir Nikolayevich’s son and daughter, Andrei and Natalya.

“We are very grateful to Vladimir Nikolayevich for what he did for the Presidential Library. In the most difficult years - the 90s - he headed the M. Ye. Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library, which later became the National Library of Russia. His activities allowed him to maintain respect for libraries in society. Contrary to all the circumstances, he built a new building of the NLR on Moskovsky Prospect, - said, opening a series of memorial events, acting Director General of the Presidential Library Valentin Sidorin. - Vladimir Nikolayevich was a member of the working group on the creation of the Presidential Library. Much of what he advised to do is now being implemented by us”.

According to the participants, V. N. Zaitsev was often ahead of his time, so his real contribution to the development of national culture has yet to be comprehended.

The multimedia exhibition, consisting of 52 slides and 88 scans of documents from the archive of the Zaitsev family, not fully reflects the whole scale of Vladimir Nikolayevich’s personality, but makes it possible to look into a difficult time both for the library industry and for the country as a whole. Perestroika, changes in political and public life, change of priorities ... At the same time, it is clear from the presented photo chronicle that the work in the State Public Library, which was headed by V. N. Zaitsev, did not stop, on the contrary, it was humming. Following the photographs, you can trace the most important milestones in the activities of the head of the SPL of that time: the construction of a new building, lawmaking, work with the authorities, up to meetings with the President.

Perhaps because of the constant need to overcome difficulties, that cohesion of the library and interdepartmental community of culture in our country has arisen. V. N. Zaitsev was known and respected in many countries of the world. NLR was visited by foreign statesmen. So, the opening of the "Voltaire Cabinet" was attended by French President Jacques Chirac. All these facts are also reflected in the materials of the exposition.

The exhibition shows that V. N. Zaitsev headed the Russian Library Association (RBA), which became very influential, even without any financial or commercial functions. It was an effective instrument through which the efforts of all libraries in the country could be concentrated to help the organization that currently needed it.

At the video lecture that followed the exhibition, the colleagues of Vladimir Nikolayevich developed the theme of his help to colleagues in hard times.

Thus, the director of the V. V. Mayakovski Central City Public Library and President of the St. Petersburg Library Society Zoya Chalova recalled the terrible fire at the Blok Library on Nevsky Prospect in 2004: “Vladimir Nikolayevich was the first to offer his help”, - she admitted.

To the applause of the hall, she proposed to establish a bust for V. N. Zaitsev in front of the building of the National Library of Russia on Moskovsky Prospect.

Additionally students and teachers of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture and St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions, high school students, employees of a number of libraries and museums, representatives of the National Information Library Center LIBNET, NP "Associate regional library consortia" (ARBIKON), the Y. G. Slepukhin Charity Foundation "The best books for libraries", research adviser Valery Leonov of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Russian Library Association (via video-conferencing mode from the Reserve Center to the Presidential Library in Moscow) Mikhail Afanasyev and others attended the memorial events.