It is generally recognized that in the 21^stcmentury, transfer to the postcontemporary civilization embraces every industry of public production and social communication. The nihilistic concept of postcontemporaneity embodied in digital economy and artificial intellect that does not need classical book culture and traditional library practice (biblionihilis) presents a technocratic delusion. The author characterizes in brief the human socio-cultural evolution from the pre-literate Paleolithic arts to global digital communication of today. This evolution evidences that the book culture is an essential anthropogenic resource of the deepest genetic and sociocultural origins. Every type of library, no less than the artificial intellect, supports education of moral, responsible, independently thinking, creative generation of Russian citizens. The library profession is the profession of the future even to a greater extent than of the present. The author concludes that integration of book and digital cultures will take the Russians to postcontemporaneity. The library intellectuals are responsible for preserving the book culture. The digital culture is an instrument of laying the way to postcontemporaneity. 

The quality of library collection is hard to evaluate due to its non-specificity and inconstancy, as well as due to the multiplicity of evaluation specifications. Besides, within the contemporary library collection studies, the concept of “library collection quality” does not correspond with criteria and indicators being suggested. To harmonize disparate requirements and quality specifications, the author applies the polysystem approach which contemplates examining collections as an element of larger systems. Each system, with its own goals, structure and functions, offers its specific requirements. The quality of library collections is analyzed from the viewpoint of structural and functional, technological, marketing, regionological, and culturological approaches. Within every macrosystem, structural elements are defined; their impact upon library collection quality is discussed. The social systems of greater global character (culture, region, market) put forward the requirements reflecting the needs and expectations of the society on the whole, regional communities and individual consumers, correspondingly. These requirements differ depending on the collections, library type and subordination, its goals and strategies and are specified in the library collection models — used as guidelines for designing the library’s technological system. Developing the quality indicators systems for each type of collection interaction within the macrosystems for every library type should become the next stage of library collection quality studies.

Authors present a fairly detailed review of main trends as discussed at seminars held within the London Book Fair 2019. As to publishing business in general it is noted that the sales of print are rising for the fourth year in a row. E-book sales are growing in the UK and falling in the US for the second consecutive year (down 3.6% in 2018) while downloadable audiobooks continue to support publishing business with double digit growth in sales (up 37.1% in 2018). Improving technology, especially smart speakers give a boost to audiobook popularity. People are increasingly listening to audiobooks at home in the evening hours of 8pm to 10pm making them an important form of leisure. Audiobooks are in great demand in libraries. Libraries buy them from publishers and audiobooks are primarily circulated in the same way as print books, that is, “one book – one borrower”.

In the era of fake news proliferation, quality research findings are important for making informed decisions (for instance, in environmental protection). We need standards and procedures that will help us recognize valid research – like cross-checking, fact checking, tracing the source of information, taking into account whether the material was published in academic or predator journals, journal blacklists and whitelists, differentiation between research and sponsored content.

Promoting global information space means intensive automation of the library and information industry. The traditional technologies of information sto­rage, search, selection and user delivery do not meet library users’ needs, do not match the volume information flow and jeopardize the role of libraries as аn intermediate in the “information — user” cumulative process. Since the late 20^th century the computer-aided technologies have been being introduced which can be illustrated with the technology of bar-coding of libraries’ document collections. The authors examine the RFID technology as an option to expand bar-coding functionality. They define the main stages of RFID-technology applications in the libraries and information agencies, e. g. large scientific libraries and university libraries, municipal libraries, etc. The authors discuss the issues of implementing RFID-technologies in community libraries based on the experience of the model library in the town of Blizhniaya Igumenka, Belogorod Region. Today, the automated systems are seen not only as an instrument of technological modernization of the libraries but as one of the important factors of social transformation of community libraries. The authors emphasize that beside the technological innovations, in particular those related to RFID, the significant social effect is observed in building comfortable user environment, efficient time management in library’s educational activities, building the library’s social image of modern hi-tech agency.

In the latter 50—30 years of the 20^th century the excessive load on the environment became obvious, and through the efforts of many natural scientists the young independent discipline of ecology came into being and became popular research and discussion vector in economics, sociology, and politics. For today, the international library community has accumulated solid and diverse experience related to ecology and sustainable development. However, these efforts are insufficiently presented in Russian professional publications. The role of libraries in building ecological outlook has become more evident in the circumstances of ecological crisis and intensifying focus on the problem. The libraries’ efforts reflect the global trends and approaches taken by scientists and researchers, politicians, industrial and agricultural producers, educationalists and cultural figures, and the wide public as ecological information users. The libraries’ experience and efforts in ecological education and information awareness evidence that educa­ting ecological and information culture has been growing into a new relevant function of the libraries in the modern world.

The creation of green libraries is approaching a tipping point, generating a Green Library Movement, which is comprised of librarians, libraries, cities, towns, college and university campuses committed to greening libraries and reducing their environmental impact. The Movement emerged in the early 1990s and gained popularity in the library profession around 2003. This innovation is happening by building green library buildings, by greening existing library facilities, providing green library services, and embracing environmentally supportive and sustainable practices within the library. Constructing a green library building using a performance standard like LEED is a way some libraries are choosing to become green and sustainable (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The California Integrated Waste Management Board defines a green or sustainable building as “a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner” Environmental challenges like energy depletion and climate change will influence the type of information resources and programs libraries will provide to their communities.

Review of the book by Yu. N. Stolyarov. Vozvrashchenniy Rubakin [Rubakin regained; in Russian] / Yu. N. Stolyarov ; Russian School Library Association; Library Studies Department of the International Informatization Academy ; Russian State Library ; Research Center for Book Culture Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences ; National Library of Sakha Republic (Yakutia). —Moscow:RussianSchoolLibrary Association, 2019. — 415 p. : ill.

In his new monograph, Yury N. Stolyarov discusses many aspects of Nicholas A. Rubakin’s life and work. N. A. Rubakin is an outstanding bibliographer and classic of the book science, father of bibliopsychology, one of the founders of library science, theorist and expert of self-education, popular exponent of science; new facts in Rubakin’s biography are discussed. The author presents previously unknown works by Rubakin and evaluates their significance for the book science; he also examines the possibility of applying Rubakin’s recommendations and practical conclusions in modern libraries for managing user self-education. That’s why Yu. Stolyarov’s monograph is seen as a new discovery of Rubakin’s heritage. The reviewer focuses on bibliopsychology, its provisions and significance for library and information studies. The historical context is reconstructed; Rbakin’s entourage and personages mentioned in the biography, from well-known political figures to front-line reporters are characterized. Rubakin’s reaction to V. Lenin’s review of the bibliography “Among the books” is of special significance for the history and theory of bibliographical science. The bibliological portraits of authors and readers developed by N. A. Rubakin are of special interest.

The author examines the role of libraries in accomplishing diverse economic tasks during the Great Patriotic War (WWII). Before the war, the libraries accumulated this specific experience and expanded it in timely and integrated manner. The author demonstrates how the libraries participated in engaging new workpower to the industries, including women and teenagers who had to replace those who went off to war. The libraries assisted in teaching teenagers and young adults in their off-work hours and their professional training. The activities of the libraries in the backlands is discussed: information support of  evacuated enterprises and research centers, new groups of users, and researchers, in particular. Statistical data available from multiple publications (see the applied list of sources). The author examines this subject in his several works, including papers presented at various forums and articles published in the present journal (e. g. Libraries’ accomplishing military and defense tasks during the Great Patriotic War. – 2020. – № 4; Unknown lives: D. B. Marchukov heading the State Foundation for Reviving Libraries Destroyed During the Great Patriotic War. – 2017. – № 1).

The author emphasizes that irreparable harm to the national cultural object, primarily the libraries, was the political strategy of the Third Reich; annihilation of the libraries and robbing the collections comprising most valuable and rare books, along with the literature of special interest to Nazi experts, was a key element and result of the occupation policy in the East. The author discusses the role of individual Third Reich departments, including the Ministry for the occupied eastern territories and their top officers in developing and implementing the Nazi library policy. Main goals and tasks in robbing and annihilation library collections of cultural, historical and economical value are characterized. General and individual examples of robbery and annihilation are given. Based on available archival materials, the statistical data are provided to illustrate the losses of national libraries. The author argues that the theme of losses sustained by the Soviet libra­ries during the Great Patriotic War is underexplored.