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Library of the “Society for Mutual Assistance of Salesmen in Tomsk”: History and Key Performance Indicators (1894—1913)

Study of the history of particular libraries is the important trend of modern domestic and foreign research works, since it contributes to the solution of not only scientific, but also local history and education tasks. Due to the lack of complex research studies on the history of library of the “Society for Mutual Assistance of Salesmen in Tomsk”, this article for the first time considers in detail the activities of library for all twenty years — from its establishment to closure. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the history of the Society’s library, including its structure, collections, functioning and future destiny. The author collected the data from a wide range of historical sources: the Charter and reports of the Society for the entire period of its existence, anniversary historical essays summarizing the results of 10—20 years of its activity, the printed catalogue of the library, the pre-revolutionary magazine “Bibliotekar” [Librarian]. Information contained in one of them is confirmed directly or indirectly in the other. All this makes it possible to characterize the source base as sufficiently complete and representative. The principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency formed the methodological basis of the research. The article uses the methods of comparative analysis, statistical, chronological and source studies. The article reveals the dependence of the amount of allocations for the library on the financing of other activities of the Society. For the first time, the author compiled the rating of writers among the library’s users, which was headed by both classic writers and authors who are almost forgotten today. The article reconstructs the repertoire of periodicals that were available in the collections. The obtained results reveal the close interrelation and interdependence of all indicators of the library’s activity, including the time of its operation, the amount of financing, the number of users, visits, titles of books and periodicals. This study expands the idea of public initiative in the arrangement of libraries in pre-revolutionary Siberia, the demand for these cultural institutions among the lower strata of Siberian society and their reader’s preferences.