City Public Library

On Uspenskaya Square, not far from the Cathedral Bridge leading to the Kremlin, stands a small wooden house decorated with carvings. This is the building of the former Uglich city public library. The history of the house is remarkable – at first, in the second half of the 19th century, it was built under the guardhouse of the nearby Police Department. But soon the latter was abolished, and the tea shop of the merchant V.I. Kashinov was located in a small cozy house in a lively place (there were shops all around). Since 1897, the city authorities have transferred this house to a public library, the first in Uglich.

The new assignment required changes, because the look of an ordinary tea house or guardhouse was not suitable for a cultural temple. Therefore, in the same year, the building was rebuilt according to the design of architect Kazansky and received a new facade in the neo-Russian style, fashionable at that time. A large round kokoshnik with small wooden carvings was placed on top of the facade, the windows were surrounded by carved architraves, as in rich peasant huts, wide cornices were placed along the top of the walls. The entrance to the library was decorated with a porch with a large lace pediment. On the kokoshnik of the pediment was the coat of arms of the city and an inscription announcing the dedication of the library of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, which was in 1896.

The public Library was opened on July 27, 1897. The city owes the organization and arrangement of the library primarily to the mayor Nikolai Dmitrievich Evreinov, the secretary of the Uglich city council Vasily Yakovlevich Smirnov, the teacher of the Uglich city college Peter Andreevich Kritsky, who became its first head. By the opening day, the library had 5,477 volumes of books, with 2,446 titles, and 38 periodicals, some of which were subscribed to the library, some of which were donated by editorial offices or delivered for reading. In the first year of its existence, there were 203 subscribers. By 1900, it had 2,527 titles of books. A certain fee was charged for the right to use them. However, teachers, clerical employees of city and zemstvo administrations, as institutions of the city and zemstvo subsidizing the library, as well as students of secondary and higher educational institutions who came to Uglich on vacation, received books for free. In 1912, on the day of its 15th anniversary, the library had 6,707 copies. books and 277 readers. In 1921, the library burned down, losing 75% of the book collection. After 1917, she was named after the poet I.Z.Surikov.

After the library was moved to another building, residential apartments and a tourist office were located here. The building became dilapidated, lost many details, and underwent unsuccessful repairs that distorted its appearance. Finally, it was restored and transferred to an interesting museum of urban life.