Library of Volyn Orthodox Theological Seminary: History of Foundation and Activity

The paper shows the history of the foundation and activity of the library of Volyn orthodox theological seminary in the context of the history of the spiritual institution per se and in its connection with the historical events in the late 18th – early 20th century. The purpose of the research was to review studies on the history of the library of Volyn orthodox theological seminary and to characterize their original base; to introduce into scientific circulation the information about library catalogs that reveal the composition of the seminar library; to consider the history of Volyn orthodox theological seminary library in the context of historical events. The comparative-historical method of research, as well as a number of special literary methods (bibliographic, functional, systemic), were used. Scientific novelty of the paper resulted from setting connections between the history of the foundation and activity of the library and such historical events as the liquidation of the Jesuit order, the Third Partition of Poland, and the subsequent incorporation of Ukrainian lands in the Russian empire, and later, in the Soviet Union. In the paper, the existing archival and library sources have been comprehensively studied. New information on the thematic composition and the presence of the periodicals in the funds of the library of Volyn orthodox theological seminary was shown. The history of the main stock of the seminar library was traced. In the early 1930s, the library of Volyn orthodox theological seminary became part of the fund of the Nationwide Library of Ukraine, where for several decades the books were kept unprocessed in the reserve book repositories. The study of the library of Volyn orthodox theological seminary allowed to make the conclusion on the lifrary as an important asset of the historical and cultural heritage of the orthodox Volyn, but due to historical circumstances it remained for a long time without proper scientific investigation.