Russian Librarians Cleverly and Successfully Resisting Moscow’s Pressure to Promote Putin and his War in Ukraine and to Restrict Access to Books Kremlin Doesn’t Like

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 6 – Continuing a long tradition of relative independence, Russia’s librarians are finding ways to resist Moscow’s pressure to promote Putin and his war in Ukraine and to restrict access to books by authors the Russian government has labeled “foreign agents” and wants to ban.

            As a result, the draconian orders that officials in Moscow are issuing on both counts often are ignored in full or in part, according to a survey of librarians in St. Petersburg by the Bumaga portal (paperpaper.io/soprotivlyatsya-mozhno-gorazdo-bolsh/; available in English at meduza.io/en/feature/2024/01/05/you-can-resist-much-more-than-it-seems).

            When Russian officials demanded that libraries put up pictures of Vladimir Putin, one library in the northern capital resisted and finally decided to put up the picture of the Kremlin dictator in a back room. And when the officials demanded exhibits on Crimea on the anniversary of its Anschluss, other librarians organized one about writers from that Ukrainian region.

            More seriously, orders from the center to remove from circulation books by authors the Kremlin wants to ban have been circumvented in many libraries with the books handed out to those who request them, albeit with the note that they are by “foreign agents.” Nonetheless, the books continue to circulate.

            What this means is that unless Moscow is going to become even more draconian, many librarians will ensure that books many assume have been banned will continue to be available and that, in the words of one librarian Bumaga journalists spoke with, “you can resist much more than it may seem possible.”