December 16, 1940
Based on the decision of the executive committee of the regional Council of Workers' Deputies dated December 16, 1940, in order to perpetuate the memory of the Jewish writer, the regional library was named after Sholom Aleichem. Nowadays the state cultural institution “Birobidzhan Regional Universal Scientific Library named after Sholom Aleichem”.
The exact date of the formation of the regional library has not been established. The first official information about the library dates back to 1934. From digital materials to the report of the work of the Birobidzhan City Council convocation 1932/1933:
“…Regional library in the city of Birobidzhan with branches in six enterprises, the average daily readership is 30 people. The library is systematically updated with high-quality literature…”.
Day in the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Photo: Photo: Regional Library
Based on an agreement with the authorized Tsentrkogiz, the regional department of KOGIZ was supposed to regularly supply the regional library with literature for free, one copy of each publication, regardless of the number of incoming copies.
According to archival data, as of October 1, 1934, the library had 2 thousand readers, the average daily attendance was 180 people, and the reading rooms were visited by an average of 40 people. The fund consisted of 25 thousand copies, including 1.2 thousand copies for children, 130 titles of newspapers and magazines were subscribed. Among the library's readers there were 760 men and 390 women.
By the pre-war years, the library's collection had grown significantly. In 1941 there were about 80 thousand volumes; compared to 1934, it increased 3.2 times. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the book stock grew 1.4 times compared to 1941 and amounted to 115 thousand books.
By 1961, the book collection of the regional library totaled 115,669 copies.
From the above figures it is clear that the regional library gradually increased its potential and became the main library of the Jewish Autonomous Region.
December 16, 1951
Elections of people's judges and people's assessors took place. 99.99% of voters took part in the elections. Among those elected to the people's courts of the region, 51% were members of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), 33% were women.
December 16, 1958
The XIII regional party conference (12+) was held, which was attended by 346 delegates. The conference discussed the theses of the report at the XXI Congress of the CPSU “Test figures for the development of the national economy of the USSR for 1959-1963” and the tasks of the regional party organization. The conference marked the rise of industry and agriculture. During the period after the September (1953) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, state and collective farms developed 67,630 hectares of new land, the number of cattle increased by 87%, cows by 68%, and pigs more than doubled. The production of vegetables increased by 3 times, potatoes by 2.6 times, milk and meat by two times. Collective farms have become economically stronger.
The conference approved the theses of the report at the XXI Congress of the CPSU and directed party organizations to implement the plans of 1958 and 1959 ahead of schedule, elected a new composition of the regional committee of the CPSU and the audit commission.
December 16, 1982
The newspaper “Birobidzhan Star” (12+) for December 25, 1982 reports that on December 16, a communist subbotnik (12+) dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the formation of the USSR took place in the region.
More than 110 thousand workers, collective farmers, engineers, employees, and students took part in it.
In total, on the day of the subbotnik, products worth 880 thousand rubles were produced, including 124 thousand rubles. Products of the highest quality category were produced.
About 8 thousand people, 327 workshops, shifts, crews, seven enterprises worked on saved raw materials, fuel and electricity.
239.9 thousand rubles were transferred to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Fund.
