Library Tourism: to Define the Essence of Concept

Problem statement. The tendency of recent years is the use of the term "library tourism" in the Ukrainian and foreign professional press. The analysis of sources revealed the lack of unity of understanding of the library community of the content of the concept of "library tourism" and updated this study. The aim of the article is to analyze the meaning of the concept of "library tourism" on the basis of identification and characterization of the phenomenon of library tourism in modern society, to determine the expediency of its study within library and information science. Methodological basis of study are principles of historical method, objectivity, comprehensiveness and continuity. From positions of scientific methodology a problem is examined on the basis of system approach. The decision of the tasks was carried out by the system of scientific, historical and bibliographic methods: theoretical (analysis, synthesis, and others like that), empiric (description), terminological analysis, comparative, study of the sources. Results of the study. The meaning of the terms "tourism", "cultural tourism" as basic for defining the essence of the concept of "library tourism" is analyzed. The conceptual principles of cultural tourism are examined, factors that influence its active development and diversity at present are studied. Library tourism is characterized as a new kind of cultural tourism. The definition of "library tourism" is proposed. Scientific novelty of the study consists in an attempt for the first time to define the term "library tourism" and to consider the possibility of studying it in the framework of library and information science. The practical significance. The author raises the issue of the possibility of integrating libraries in the tourism sector, considering their experience in library and information support of tourism and local history.