The political and social changes that have taken place in the Soviet Union over the past decade have affected all aspects of society in all of the republics. Libraries are no exception. The leaders of the former Soviet Union always recognized the power and importance of information. From the outset, Lenin and his cohorts realized that the printed word would be a powerful tool in their goal to spread socialist ideology (their particular brand of information). They also realized that they were dealing with a largely oral society that did not depend on the printed word. They began massive literacy programs through the establishment of adult education centres and libraries throughout the country. They appropriated the private book collections of the wealthy and the intelligentsia and used them to begin the establishment of an enormous network of libraries. All of these information centres were used as agents of the spread of communist ideology. Librarians were instructed as to which books toed the party line, and which were  "bourgeois" and "subversive". The official role of Soviet librarians was to direct readers to the "correct" information.

Now librarians in the Russian Federation, along with all of the former Soviet states, are discovering their  role as information specialists in a new reality. They are currently working in 150 000 national, state, regional, public, academic, school and "emerging business libraries" nation-wide (Apoutchine 4).

The following is a discussion of the transitions taking place in post-Soviet Russian libraries. This transition involves both globalization and diversity. Russian librarians are aware that their libraries have lagged behind the West technologically, and are not set up to serve the needs of their emerging intellectually freer society. Therefore, they are looking to the influence of the West for answers, and are taking steps towards automization that will help to create openness and change. At the same time, Russian librarians, who until a few years ago were employed to censor, ban, and direct their readers down a single Marxist-Leninist path, are suddenly allowed to address the concept of diversity. They want to create balanced collections. They have pioneered efforts to open closed collections. They want to discover their readers' diverse needs and find out how to fill them.

The sources quoted here were written by Russians themselves, as well as by American and Canadian librarians who have observed and taken part in the current transitions in Russian libraries. From the inside, Russians describe the harsh realities they are dealing with, but also the positive impact of the changes that have gone on in their country over the last decade. They express both hope and fear for the future.  From the outside, North American librarians lament the poor facilities and lack of technology in Russian libraries, but are impressed by Russian librarians' dedication to their jobs.

It is abundantly clear from the literature that Russian libraries, along with the entire social, cultural, and economic system of the former USSR, are still in a state of uncertain transition. Many North Americans seem to be under the impression that once communism fell in the Soviet Union, democracy would naturally take over because in the North American psyche, democracy is the "natural order of things." They forget that their ancestors fought for, and created, the federalist democratic system that has become entrenched as their version of reality. Living in Russia today is very difficult, because the basis of the formerly entrenched Soviet reality has been destroyed. The people of that vast and diverse country are searching for values and constructs upon which to base their daily lives. Many of the Russian librarian writers that I will discuss here firmly believe that librarians must take a pro-active role in the search for, and discovery of, those new values.

Part of creating the present and the future involves understanding the past. I think that is why many of the articles that I read include a discussion or synopsis of the creation and running of the Soviet library system. Authors emphasize its abuses, its censorship, and its destructive influences. However, authors also look for Soviet contributions to librarianship that can be used as a starting point for libraries in the newly emerging, but as yet undefined post-Soviet Russian system.