Abstract
In Eastern Europe great importance was attached to opening libraries and organizing their activities in the early years of building a new socio-political system, as the promotion of readership was seen to be instrumental to the dissemination of communist values and attitudes. In spite of post-war economic ruin and exceptional difficulties, and some undoubtedly bad effects, this resulted in impressive library networks, dominated by national libraries. The Lenin State Library produced the richest catalogue of methods and forms for methodological activity, embracing ten major categories. The most important of these were: research; production of forecasts and programmes for the development of librarianship; and conferences, seminars, courses to discuss current issues, present and propagate leading achievements and raise librarians' qualifications. The full use of these forms of activity made it possible for national libraries in socialist countries to exert a marked influence on the organization and functioning of libraries in each country on the one hand, and on the ideological content of library activity on the other, although in some countries the latter was adopted half-heartedly. Under these conditions national libraries grew to be leading institutions of library management.
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