The history of the Russian Book Chamber — the world’s first specialized state institution established to carry out registration, current bibliographic accounting of domestic publications and their archival storage — is briefly described. Since 2013 it has been a branch of the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). In 2021—2022 the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation to transfer the functions of this branch to the Russian State Library (RSL) was implemented. The organizational aspects of this process are covered. As a result, RSL acquired new functions (accounting, notification, perpetual storage of the required copy) and a new status — the National Bibliographic Agency of the Russian Federation (NBA), which now need to be fixed in legal documents. The importance of coordination and methodological functions of the NBA for the full functioning of the entire system of national bibliography of the country is especially noted.

The article presents the goals, objectives and results of the questionnaire survey of the country’s libraries that use the Library and Bibliographic Classification (LBC) Medium Tables in their work. The revealed information about various aspects of LBC use, trends in the development of practical cataloguing will help to ensure the effectiveness of the modernized LBC tables in library practice. The need to strengthen methodological support for specialists who use the tables in practice was revealed. Suggestions of cataloguers will form the basis for the development of a scientific concept of further development and improvement of the LBC. In general, the results of the study will allow to ensure the creation and publication of the second edition of the LBC Medium Tables in book and digital versions, scientific and methodological support for the introduction of modified LBC tables into library practice.

The article considers the domestic dissertation works devoted to the information support of library specialists. On the example of studies conducted in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the dynamics of development of library and information sciences in the context of information technology development is traced. It shows the increasing demand of scientists and library practitioners for industry-specific information — both full-text and bibliographic. The possibilities of creation and delivery of branch information products to the consumer are analyzed, taking into account social changes, as well as material, resource and technological conditions, which allows us to consider this topic relevant at present.

Popularization of books and reading, as one of the important tasks of modern children’s library activity, determines the relevance of studying the means of attracting potential readers to reading. The aim of the article is to review the websites of children’s libraries to identify popular recommended bibliographic resources intended for adult readers. The review of sites of 79 regional, regional and republican children’s libraries of the Russian Federation is presented. It analyses the content and forms of presentation of bibliographic resources for adult readers: parents, teachers, librarians. The review allowed to identify the potential of children’s libraries in expanding the reading circle of users of different age groups.

The professional art history interests of professor M.I. Fabrikant (1887—1966) in the field of book studies, bibliography, library and museum studies are reflected in the documents of his personal archive in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Scientific Library of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Based on his extensive experience, the scientist drafted in the 1920s a scientific classification of art literature. In addition, working in the 1930s in the scientific libraries of major Moscow museums (the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery), he drafted the structures of branch catalogues. M.I. Fabrikant also participated as a consultant in the development of projects for the organisation of departments and catalogues in the new building of the Lenin State Library of the USSR in 1936.

To the 225th anniversary of our classic poet, a historical and bibliographical review of the main publications of the 20th-21st centuries about the life and works of A.S. Pushkin is given. There are also statistics and information about his works published from 2000 to 2024. Printed sources about the poet’s works for this period are reflected in the same detail. Publishers-leaders both in the sphere of publishing the poet’s works and in the sphere of publishing literary works on the life and works of A.S. Pushkin are highlighted. In 2000s — mid-2024s, 2720 book editions of Pushkin’s works with a total circulation of 20.667 million copies and 2276 editions about his life and works with a circulation of 3.884 million copies were registered. The first ten publishers of Pushkin’s works are headed by the recognized leaders — “Eksmo” and “AST” (399 titles with a circulation of 3.46 million copies and 256 titles with a circulation of 2.02 million copies respectively). Among the leading publishers in terms of the number of titles published about Pushkin’s life and works, the Pushkin Museum-Reserve is in first place (64 titles), and “AST” Publishing House is only in second position (48 titles). However, “AST” and “Eksmo” are ahead of the others in terms of circulation (247.1 thousand copies and 164.5 thousand copies respectively).

The Research Department of Rare Books of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences holds valuable copies of early editions of the religious and philosophical works by Blaise Pascal (1623—1662). The article considers the copies of Pascal’s rare editions in the context of the history of publication of his works, the formation of book collections, of which the department’s collection was comprised, first of all the original one, as well as the Mikhalkov collection and the library of the Roman Catholic Theological Academy.

35 letters for 1896—1913 by the famous bibliophile D.V. Ulyaninsky (1861— 1918) to the bibliologist P.K. Simoni (1859—1939) and bibliographer V.N. Rogozhin (1859—1909) are published. They contain information about the formation of the library and the collection of portraits, as well as book and bibliographic researches, personal connections, lifestyle and communication style of D.V. Ulyaninsky. The bibliophile managed to regularly receive publications of the Imperial Academy of Sciences with the help of P.K. Simoni, who served as secretary of the Department of Russian Language and Literature. The letters mention more than 40 publications (those that D.V. Ulyaninsky requested, sent or already had in his library). The published sources reflected the bibliophileʼs studies in genealogy and heraldry. They are of undoubted interest for studying the history of Russian book culture, library science, bibliography, special historical disciplines and, in general, the intellectual life of Russia at the turn of the 19th—20th centuries.

On 24—25th April 2024, Perm hosted the international scientific and practical conference Thirteenth Makushinskiye Readings “The Book in the Cultural Space of the Region”. It continues the tradition of forums uniting researchers of book culture, established in 1988. The results of the conference are presented, the plenary reports are analyzed, and a brief review of the activities of the sectional sessions is given. A view on the prospects for the development of book science within the framework of the medialogical approach, which allows to intensify the interaction between book historians and representatives of related scientific disciplines that study books in one way or another, is offered.

The article describes the activities of the Section of Bibliography and Information and Bibliographic Services of the Russian Library Association and the content of the reports presented at the meeting of this section, within the framework of the All-Russian Library Congress in Kazan (21 May 2024). Special attention was paid to the organisation and holding of the International Bibliographic Congresses; prospects for the formation of the system of current national (state) bibliography in electronic form and various aspects of guidance in this area for national libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation; experience of Russian libraries in creating printed bibliographic indexes and the formation of electronic bibliographic resources; optimal models of bibliographic services.