Materials on the history of Kuban Orthodox libraries in the reports of spiritual institutions

Abstract

The article considers the source-study possibilities of using the reporting documentation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the study of the history of Orthodox libraries in Kuban in XIX century. It is noted that the means of controlling higher church authorities over their subordinate structures were written reports, personal reports of hierarchs on the state of church affairs, review by the bearer of church authority of the spiritual institutions subordinated to him, conducting audits, etc.
The authors found that the church сhronicles contained valuable information about the formation of the Orthodox library network infrastructure and the relationship between the library and the authorities, as well as the year and place of opening of libraries, their number, thematic composition and dynamics of changes in book collections, circulation of books, readership, etc.