The contribution of the merchant class in the development of librarianship of the Upper Volga region in the second half of the nineteenth - early twentieth century

Abstract. The article is devoted to the history of the origin of social public libraries in county-level cities of the Upper Volga region in the second half of the nineteenth - early twentieth century, the example of Moore and Uglich. The author considers the main statistical indicators of libraries and analyzes the need and the impact on local communities. The role of merchants in the field of library and education.