Book lovers met again at the Regional Documents and Local History Department of the Anykščiai L. and S. Didžiuliai Public Library to talk about books, share thoughts about manuscripts, and discuss the importance of their enduring value.
At the beginning of the meeting, Judita Skačkauskienė, a librarian from the User Service and Information Department, presented the members of the club "Knyginyčia" with the latest books received at the Public Library and the most popular among readers. Judita named several books that had already managed to win the sympathy of readers, but she was also pleased that the writer Rimantas P. Vanagas is still the most popular of the authors from Anykščina.
After reviewing the peculiarities of reading books, the club members had the opportunity to get acquainted with the manuscript legacy of the writer and prose writer Kęstutis Arlauskas (1936–2009) stored in the Public Library. The manuscripts of novels published by Kęstutis Arlauskas are stored in the VB Manuscript Fund (F. 11.): the novel "Gray in Half an Hour", the historical adventure story "The Price of a Secret", the short story "Liūnas", the short stories "Burtų keliu", "Mėlynasis automobilis", "Krislas akyze", "Nenuoramos pažiadinti", the short story "Angelo chaininė", "Be teisės pažadinti", etc. It is especially interesting that the novels "Dūris tarp slankstėli", "Shield", "Nusidėjėlių bokštas" and "Chaininė su cryolite" have two manuscript versions each, which reveal the writer's creative process and the peculiarities of his writing style.
Members of the „Knyginyčia“ club were interested in comparing the texts of the novel „Chain with Cryolite“ by writer K. Arlauskas, published in 2001, with the surviving texts on handwritten pages. This comparison activity not only provided new insights into the writer’s work, but also helped to gain a deeper understanding of how manuscript texts turn into final literary works.
Such meetings are a great opportunity for book lovers to enrich their knowledge, share impressions and experiences, and maintain a lively interest in literature and the process of its creation. The employees of the Regional Documents and Local History Department continue to plan to organize similar events, and for the next club meeting, book lovers have decided to read texts in their native dialect.
Audrone BEREZAUSKIENĖ
Head of the Regional Documents and Local History Department of the Latvian Academy of Sciences
