The first public library of the Oryol province was officially opened on December 6 (18), 1838 after the publication of a government circular on the creation of provincial institutions for reading.
At present, the full name is the Oryol Regional Scientific Universal Public Library named after I. A. Bunin. The largest collection of books in the area. About the history of its creation, about the collections of literary publications from the past and the present, stored in “Buninka”, as the city residents affectionately call it, will be discussed in our article.
Turning pages of history
The opening of the library in 1838 was carried out with the personal participation of the governor of that time N.M. Vasilchikov and inspector of the gymnasium P.A. Azbukin. Initially, it was located in the building of the Noble Assembly. After the death of the governor, the library was disbanded, and books were stored in various archives of the province.
But already from 1858 to 1866, revival and prosperity began, right up to the revolution, as a result of which the library was undergoing a series of transformations that culminated in the formation of a rather large book fund of 105 thousand volumes. Among the rarities were rare editions, various manuscripts, art albums and works. Here was organized the center of the methodology for creating a network of libraries in the region.
After the end of World War II, the affected funds were restored, the library received a new building. Some of the books inherited from the first collections are still kept, and Buninka is rightfully considered the successor to the first provincial public library in Orel.
Here, readers can familiarize themselves with the recreated story from the editions of the Book Treasury of the Oryol Region, Our Land of Oryol, 50 Heroic Years and others.
Until 1922, the library bore the name of N.K. Krupskaya. New milestones in the history of the Bunin library (Oryol) began after it was renamed in 1992 in Buninskaya.
Nonrandom name
A lot is connected with the Oryol province in the life of a Russian writer. After the monument to Nobel Prize winner in literature Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was erected in Orel in 1992, a new round of library development began.
The fact is that a monument to the work of sculptor Oleg Uvarov was installed in the park next to the library, in the same year and the institution itself received the title of I. A. Bunin
After all, it was in Orel that the first Bunin translation of the famous epic poem "Song of Hiawatha" was published. This translation of the American poem by Henry Longfellow is still considered unsurpassed.
In the newspaper Oryol Herald, the translation was first published in 1896, and by the end of the year the printing house of the same newspaper published a poem as a separate book.
Structure and funds
The library fund is a real treasury, which has more than 600 thousand documents stored, annually writes about 500 titles of magazines and newspapers. Additionally, annual receipts to the funds amount to 12 thousand new documents.
The Bunin Library, Oryol, is structured into 16 functioning departments.
The staff employs 123 people who daily serve about a thousand visitors. And regular readers make up an impressive figure of 35 thousand people.
According to statistics, the annual issuance of books and documents is about one million. Such a volume and fruitful work is explained by the fact that library works use not only the traditional method, but also modern technologies in servicing users.
Organization Mission and Resources
“Buninka”, as well as other scientific and information institutions of the country, are facing difficult tasks. Its mission is to perform the following tasks:
- main regional book depository;
- a public information resource center for research and literature;
- scientific and methodological activities at the territorial level on the development of librarianship;
- coordination and development of regulatory documents governing the activities of such institutions in the region;
- publishing activities;
- educational base of the library faculty of the Oryol educational institutions.
"Rossiada", the Gospel and other rarities
Among the vast kingdom of books, of course, there are rare editions in the library.
These are, for example, handwritten rarities: the Gospel of the 1600 edition by the Mamonich printing press. Books of lifetime editions of Peter: the first Russian epic poem "Rossiada" M. Kheraskova; collected works of Mikhail Lomonosov, "History of the Pugachev Riot" by A. S. Pushkin.
In the library of Bunin, Oryol, unique books are autographed by the authors, printing samples of various years of publication.
The general collection of rarities in the institution (the city of Oryol) is 13,560 copies, of which more than ten thousand are pre-revolutionary periodicals.
Public benefit: presentations, exhibitions, special dates for book lovers
Book exhibitions, presentations of novelties of literature are regularly organized in the library building, and Book Day celebrations are regularly held.
Every year, the celebration of the Orthodox Book Day, which was established by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, takes place with the participation of the exhibition "Holy Russia, Protect the Orthodox Faith."
Meetings and meetings of the literary and poetry club "Step Towards" are organized here. At meetings, the authors share their novelties, discuss the themes of modern poetry.
Entrance to meetings and events is free for all comers.
So, for example, Oryol residents and city guests take part in the All-Russian action "Night of the Arts", the theme in the Bunin’s library (Oryol) is “Give me the quiet of your libraries ...”.
For the celebration of Victory Day 2019, the results of the annual regional patriotic video contest, which takes place among students of secondary professional institutions, under the general title “Heroes - Honor!” Will be summed up here.
Musical evenings and presentations are held in the library's reading room.
So, in “Buninka” there was a presentation of the world's best-selling books - books published by the Orlik Publishing House in 2018 and 2019.
The joint work of the publishing house with the Aini literary fund and the publishing house is the release of two books: A Journey from Bukhara to Petersburg by a Tajik writer, philosopher and enlightener Ahmad Donish; the second book is a collection of ruby Omar Khayyam.
How to get to the library, opening hours, address
Any Orlovets and guest of the city can visit the library or participate in a holiday or a suitable cultural event in accordance with the organization’s working hours.
Opening hours of the Bunin library, Oryol:
- from Monday to Thursday, the institution is open from 9:00 to 20:00;
- on Saturday and Sunday, a working day from 10:00 to 18:00;
- day off: friday.
Sanitary day - on the last Monday of each month.
Anyone can register in the library or attend a selected event at the address: 43, Maksim Gorky Street, Oryol.