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The subject of research is the experience and results of the commemoration of the 120th birth anniversary of the writer Ieva Simonaitytė (1897-1978). The significance of this event, celebrated on the national scale, like other anniversaries of prominent personalities in Lithuanian history, was validated by the decision of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and by the 2017 State program,approved by the Prime Minister. Such a decision meant that the State pledged itself to highlight the writer's humanistic values and her creative heritage. The aims of research were to determine the initiatives of the writer's anniversary commemoration , the most important documents and the objectives raised in them, the process of their realization, the achievements and the content. According to the collected data, the events commemorating Ieva Simonaitytė's anniversary were held all over Lithuania. However, the most important ones were centred in the writer's native land - West Lithuania, the former Klaipėda Region. Major events were organized in the cities and towns of Klaipėda, Šilutė, Pagėgiai, Priekulė, Gargždai as the cultural centres of the nearest local authorities. Such an orientation can be explained by the limited budgetary funding of the commemoration program, with scanty allocations mainly channeled to the region's libraries, museums, Klaipėda University academics, the local movements of cultural workers and public figures and theinitiatives launched by them. As regards the scholarly and information aspect, due to the pool of intellectual and financial resources, Vilnius played an important role. The scientific institutions of the capital city held a seminar and discus sion on The Relevance of Ieva Simonaitytė, and the texts of the reports of the participants were published in the journal Colloquia (2017, Nr. 38); the Vilnius University Academic Publishers published a book of evidential texts and reminiscences, I'm Evė, Daughter of Etmė. Lithuanian Radio and Television released a documentary Ieva Simonaitytė and a radio version of the novel Vilius Karalius; they are professional and powerful, unfortunately, somewhat belated as they were shown at the end of the anniversary year. The program did not contain any long-term projects: the major novels and autobiographical books by Simonaitytė were not republished; compilation of the home library catalogue and the author's bibliography was not undertaken; the publication of the epistolary heritage, especially in the German language, was not continued; and a conference on the up-to-date analysis and assessment of the personality and her work was not held. The public was disappointed by the dire state of the Ieva Simonaitytė memorial museum in the town of Priekulė and failure to include it in to the activities of promoting her creative heritage. The Lithuanian general education schools have a problem too: the writer's literary works had been removed from their curricula for 20 years. When it was included into them again in 2016, teachers were faced with difficulties due to the lost experience and methods, the inability to convey the national, moral and social problems raised in the novels, the exceptional qualities of her characters, and the powerful suggestibility of Simonaitytė's narratives. During discussions, the duty to fulfil the writer's will was stressed: to move her remains from Vilnius to the garden at her memorial museum in Priekulė. To realize these tasks, it is necessary to prepare a long-term (for the duration of several years) program of commemorating Simonaitytė's work. Her novels are still relevant today as it was witnessed by a piece of investigative journalism: while celebrating the centenary of the restoration of Lithuania's independence, in the list of the Hundred of Centenary Books rated by a public opinion poll, the most important books of the writer were placed sixth and seventh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leonas Panavas (1942-2011) was a professional milling-machine operator at Vilnius metal-working plants who became a bibliophile and book binder due to his cultural aspirations. He was motivated by his complicated family and personal experiences as well as by his natural abilities. His book culture was developing in several directions. It was dominated by his collection of a personal library of scholarly bias, his strong inclination for reading, and bibliophily. Even though L. Panavas lacked higher education, his personal book culture surpassed not only that of an ordinary metal worker but also exceeded the competences achieved by some professionals in the humanities. The main motivation for his creative activities was bookbinding. It made up for the gaps in his specialized secondary education acquired in his younger days. With the aim of self-development, L. Panavas turned bookbinding into a way of life. To keep it going, he constantly solidified the material foundations of his craft, expanded the circle of his clientele and continuously perfected his professional skills and his style of binding. Striving for a qualitative progress, he made use of professional literature and expert consultations, visited exhibitions of original artefacts created by masters of binding and learned from them. The literature on bookbinding collected by him is valuable and diverse in content. It included the history of writing and book publishing, the methods and technology of binding, the graphics of type and ornamentation of covers, binding materials, and the restoration of ancient bookbindings. He did his best to familiarize himself with the professional publications on the related crafts (leather industry, paper making) in other countries (Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the USA, Czech Republic) even though, due to the lack of knowledge of foreign languages, he could not always use them to the best advantage. However, the bookbinder's reading range was not limited to professional literature only. His reading interests were truly universal and they were satisfied by a well selected personal library specializing in the humanities. Its characteristic feature is preservation of books and respect for them. In the present study, research into L. Panavas's book culture and bookbindings is based on his personal collection of over 150 professional bookbindings preserved by his family as well as on his private library and some documents. However, one feels the absence of more diverse archival material. A major part of bookbindings created by L. Panavas during 25 years of binding activities is dispersed in the private collections of his numerous customers. Researching them is a task for the future. Still, the study has made it possible to establish L. Panavas as an important participant of the Lithuanian book binding process during the period of the restoration of Lithuania's statehood and its consolidation (1985-2010) as well as a productive craftsman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of research is a personal library of Kristijonas Donelaitis. Its investigation has not produced any results so far. This depends on the low relevance of the problem and scarce source data available. This article suggests that it is necessary to broaden and increase the sets of historical data needed for the analysis of the problem and their variety. It is also important to use new methods and critical approach to the evaluation of the sources and historiographic literature used by the creators of Donelaitis' studies such as Martin Ludwig Rhesa, Ludwig Loui Passarge, Franz Oskar Tetzner, Aleksandr Horn, Carl Wilhelm Hugo Freyberg). Taking into account the present state of historiography, the aim of the research is formulated as follows: to assertain, to deny, or to leave open the possibility of the existence of the personal library of Donelaitis for further investigation until its reality or at least the fact of probability to be answered unambiguously. The grounds for this research were found in the ambition of the Prussian royal authorities of the 18th century to impose more stringent control on the knowledge, skills and personal life of Protestant priests. Back then, rather fruitful means were used to accomplish this goal. The priests had to react to the new developments in order to improve their official and social standing. This led to the acquisition of a handy library for the development of skills and education. When investigating the library of Donelaitis the main aims should be as follows: 1) to identify personal and official information and creative needs of its owner, 2) to establish the means and sources of library acquisition, 3) to identify its composition and purpose, 4) to trace its fate after the death of the owner. The method applied is based on theoretical proofs and the speculative analysis of historiographical statements and secondary sources. At present, the conducted investigation allows us to provide only theoretical assumptions. According to the results, no convincing proof of the existence of Donelaitis' personal library can be produced. The possibility of the denial of its existence still exists. Therefore, we can formulate the following dualistic conclusion: 1) according to the conditions of the time and his position, Donelaitis must have had a personal library, 2) so far, there is no data about the fact of the existence of this library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this study was the personal library of Plater, a Lithuanian intellectual of the first half of the 19th century. The work on the article was inhibited by the lack of data from Jerzy Plater's lifetime as the Plater family archive was destroyed by the Soviet Army which occupied Lithuania in 1940. The aim was achieved by analyzing dispersed published and unpublished historical sources and selecting the authentic data by comparing their reliability. The owner of the library was count Jerzy Plater (Jerzy Jan Wincenty Plater, Jerzy Jan Wincenty Plater-Broel z Broelu hrabia Plater, Geor-gius comes de Plater, Jurgis Plateris in Lithuanian; born 1810 in Klaipėda (Memel), died 1836 in Raseiniai, buried in Švėkšna) - a member of an influential aristocratic family in the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. He was educated by domestic teachers in the manor, later in the Kražiai and Vilnius gymnasiums, and graduated from Vilnius University where he studied philology and liberal arts. At the University his scholarly interests were formed. Plater was one of the most important members of the gentry that participated in the Lituanistic movement of the first half of the 19th century. The main directions of scholarly work pursued by the Count were the Lithuanian language, history of Lithuania and his personal library. His works reflect the variety of methods applied by him: they included informal communication, targeted visits to the libraries that kept printed heritage collections, book analysis de visu, and archival research. The Count was one of the first authors to write his scholarly works in Lithuanian. Plater inherited the Gedminaičiai Manor from his parents and created a basis for his research there - a personal library and a small museum. To achieve his main aims, he built a Lituanistic collection which included not only publications, but also manuscripts, graphic art, technical drawings, paintings and museum objects. The collection comprised over 3000 items. The main acquisition sources were Vilnius and bookstores in the nearby Prussian towns Königsberg (Karaliaučius), Tilsit (Tilžė) and Klaipėda (Memel). There he acquired old Lituanistic and Old Prussian research works and serials. He sought for the possibilities to enrich his library through personal contacts with outstanding researchers, creative priests, and book culture representatives. The Count was aware of the advantages of collective research and invited a creative collaborator - the writer and philologist Simonas Tadas Stanevičius - to work with him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliophile activity in exile is one of the important and interesting areas of Lithuanian book culture. However, it is not well researched. We rarely talk about valuabel libraries and collections of bibliophiles, except when they are donated to the memory institutions of the homeland. Many of them were collected by physicians, diplomats, artists, and priests who have reached high social standing. Justinas K. Karazija (1892-1991) belonged to the first generation of Lithuanians in the USA. He belonged to the working class (was a steel industry worker) and participated in the social-democratic movement. Karazija's personal library included publications from 1891-1976 published in exile and in the homeland: books, periodicals, maps. During the later years of his life, the owner has made a bibliographic description of this library and donated it to the American Lithuanian Cultural Archive (ALKA) in Putnam (Connecticut, USA). In this article, six aspects of the library are analysed: the age of publications languages, publishing places, contents typology, and the level of individuality. The data allows the author to claim that the library has influenced the formation of the personality, provided possibilities of the intellectual development and stimulated creativity. At the same time it symbolized a minimal, re-located homeland and was oriented to the preservation of the national identity. The library helped to create the physical space and the spiritual microcosm on the basis of the national identity. The case of Karazija's library proves that this feature of intelectual elevation was characteristic not only to the inteligentsia groups but also to the members of the working social stratas. The microcosm of a personal library enabled them to identify and forecast the future changes of the emigrant community and to define their own place and role in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]