ABSTRACT
Libraries in the Soviet Union were enlisted in propaganda efforts from the time of the 1917 October Revolution. The introduction of perestroika and glasnost reforms in the mid-1980s shook the decades-long principles of Soviet librarianship. As the party loosened its controls on information and cut funding of libraries, a grassroots movement for reform developed among Soviet librarians. Through the formation of independent library associations (ILAs) librarians sought to reimagine the role of the library in a democratizing society. This article uses the establishment of ILAs in the two largest Soviet cities, Moscow and Leningrad, as a lens through which to examine Russian librarians' responses to changes under perestroika and the resulting growth of professional self-awareness that led to the adoption of new values that continue to influence Russian librarianship.
