Soviet libraries play a great role in the spiritual life of the country, in the education and enlightenment of broad sections of the population, and in dissemination of the cultural, scientific and technical achievements among the people. Due to this care and broad initiative of the people, the U.S.S.R. has the largest number of networks of libraries in the world. In the Soviet Union, there are 350,000 libraries of various types evenly distributed on the vast territory of the country and in all national republics, thus giving every Soviet citizen an opportunity to use public book funds. The libraries of the socialist type contribute to the readers' independence and skill in the use of printed matter and audiovisual means. One of the chief concerns of the library promoting the cause of education by its own forms and methods is to educate via the cultivation of reading. The library's sphere of influence is steadily expanding and the propagandization of books is carried out more frequently beyond the library itself or in its reading rooms. The book goes directly to the workshops and fields, clubs and specialists' conferences, museums and cinema-theaters by means of exhibitions and literary reviews. (MF)