Russia's largest library will establish a closed repository for banned books

The Lenin State Library of Russia will establish a closed repository for books of a subversive nature that are banned in the Russian Federation, as well as those confiscated in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. 

This was reported by the RBC news agency, citing a statement by Russian Deputy Minister of Culture Zhanna Alekseeva during her speech at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. 

Russian state libraries have also completely stopped adding to their collections works by authors whom the Kremlin regime has declared “foreign agents,” and the use of their works at exhibitions and cultural events has been banned. In addition, starting in 2026, strict controls will be introduced on book purchases funded by federal funds, which from now on will be carried out exclusively based on lists compiled by a specially created expert council to prevent the circulation of publications that undermine so-called spiritual and moral values. 

According to preliminary estimates by the Russian Ministry of Digital Development and industry associations, such censorship restrictions could result in the removal of up to 15% of the collections from the country’s public and academic libraries, and up to 70% in some municipalities. A large number of academic, regional studies, and classical literature published in the 1990s and 2000s with the support of Western foundations, as well as works by leading universities deemed “undesirable” in the Russian Federation, are at risk of being removed. Previously, Russian libraries had already begun enforcing unofficial blacklists of writers who spoke out against the war in Ukraine or fell under the scope of laws banning “LGBT propaganda” and “drug propaganda.”

Source: RBC.