About

The Russian Book Union is a non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in 2001, which unites leading Russian publishers, book distributors, printers, representatives of paper industry and cultural, scientific, educational, and library communities, including a number of writers’ organizations and associations, over 1,500 book industry entities in all. Sergey Stepashin is the permanent President of the Union.

According to the Russian Book Chamber, 85.391 books and brochure items, 364.6 million printed copies in total were published in Russia in nine months of 2017. Currently products of RBU publishing houses make up 80% of the whole publishing market.

The basic concept of RBU activity is devotion to literature, culture and spiritual advance of Russia. The Union gives priority to the task of efforts consolidation in order to create a coordinated policy aimed at Russian book industry development, and the task of assistance to educational, awareness-raising and cultural programs that promote reading, thus contributing to the growth of Russian economy and, eventually, competitiveness.
‘Raising enthusiasm for reading becomes a nationwide task to say the least. Well-consolidated efforts of public and state institutions, as well as writers, of course, schools teachers, and professors are essential for performing this task. We need to set up and implement a unified strategy that is intelligible and acceptable for everyone. We will revive the demand for the book for the benefit of our country and its future’, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in his VII RBU Congress speech.

The Russian Book Union cooperates with the State Duma, the Federation Council, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, Ministries and other governmental bodies of the Russian Federation on a number of matters, advancing initiatives in the sphere of legislation, development of international relations and support of creative writing. A number of interaction and cooperation agreements has been signed with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Science, Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), St. Petersburg Government, Moscow Region Government, Government of the Republic of Dagestan, Arkhangelsk Region Government, and Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Union participates in the All-Russia People’s Front and is one of the founders of the Russian Historical Society. Jointly with RHS, RBU has established the Clio Prize for History and Literature which was awarded to Daniil Granin for his novel My Lieutenant, as well as the Russian Book Union Award for Meritorious Education of Russia unanimously granted to Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.

Since 2006, the Russian Book Union together with the Government of St. Petersburg, backed by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, arranges St. Petersburg International Book Salon annual exhibition. The Union is a permanent participant of the Moscow International Book Fair. It arranges participation of Russia in international book exhibitions in Minsk, Havana, Leipzig, Bratislava, Belgrade, Istanbul, Beijing, Tehran, and Helsinki. The Union was engaged in organization of events held in London, New York, and other cities.

According to Russian President’s Decree No. 426 dated June 12, 2014, «On arrangement of the Year of Literature in Russia», on behalf of the Year of Literature Organizing Committee and the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, RBU organized key events and was the chief administrator of 92 Year of Literature events including the Books of Russia Festival held on Red Square, the 10thSaint-Petersburg International Book Salon, the «Cultural Map of Russia. Literature. Reading» Project, the «The Most Reading Region of Russia» All-Russian Competition with the Russian Literature Flagship status being granted to the winner thereof, and many other events.

Since 2013, the All-Russian Congress of Preschool Education Workers has been held at the initiative of the Russian Book Union and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

The Union conducts public reviews of printed and electronic schoolbooks and textbooks in order to recommend them to be or not to be included in the Federal List of Schoolbooks. Both Moscow and regional publishing houses based in around 25 Russian cities underwent RBU public review, including those publishing in national languages: Bashkir, Chechen, Tatar, Udmurt and Yakut.

Over the years of its existence, the Union has established 16 branches in various Russian regions from Kaliningrad to Siberia. In 2016, the Union held a jubilee Сongress, where the results of 15 years of work were reviewed and new targets are set.

One of the major projects being successfully implemented by RBU is the Union-developed National Program for the Support and Promotion of Reading in the Russian Federation. Following the 2013 Russian Literary Assembly, this Program has not been granted a state-level status so far, despite the instructions given by Vladimir Putin. It is one of the top priorities for RBU to take continued efforts aimed at awarding this status to the National Reading Program.