Izyum City Central Library

In September 1884, a city library opened in Izum. Its opening was preceded by the collection of books and the preparation of the premises for the functioning of the future library. When the first three hundred books were collected, the library opened. Initially, it was located in the outbuilding, which was located in the courtyard of the post office. Over time, the library moved to one of the houses along Sobornaya Street. When the number of books in the library reached 1000 copies, they were divided in half. One half of the books was intended for readers who paid money for reading, and the second went to the "public reading room" and it was possible to use such a book for free. In the “People's Reading Room” one could read books from the series “Reading for the People”, “Reading Room of the National School”, magazines “Church Bulletin”, and “Useful Reading”. Work in the library at that time was not paid, representatives of the city intelligentsia worked on it on their own initiative. Over time, a house was built on the collected donations, on the ground floor of which the library was organized ^[2] .

In 1905-1907, the city intelligentsia organized public lectures for the people, which took place on Sundays. In the library appeared collections of "Knowledge" and fiction, characterized by progressive views. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Izyum City Library received state funding. Among its readers appeared workers and peasants, now it was possible to use books for free. In 1935, the city library decided to participate in the All-Union competition for the best district library and won first place in the republic. The library staff received a prize of 10 thousand rubles. In 1941, the library stock totaled 66 thousand copies. Among the interesting objects of the library fund, one can distinguish the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia of 1890, publications of the works of pre-revolutionary writers. During the Great Patriotic War and the occupation of the city, library funds were looted. After the war, library staff searched for lost books. Gradually, the library stock began to increase. Each year, the state allocated 3,000 rubles for the purchase of books, the library subscribed to 30 different newspapers and 70 magazines ^[2] .

In 1950-1955, a literary circle worked, which later became the basis for the creation of the literary association "Kremenets" ^[2] .

A library of poetry lovers functioned in the library from 1964 to 1967. At the club meetings, local poets and writers spoke, often literary men from Kharkov became guests of the club. The library held regional semi-annual training courses for librarians. In 1970, the library moved to a new building. In 1977, the library became part of the Centralized District Library System, and in 2003 became the Central Library of the City Centralized Library System. Each year, the central library serves more than 4,000 readers. The library has 43 723 thousand books. In 2011, the Center opened a public Internet access center ^[2] .