Estonian Literature Day: Celebrating the Nation's Literary Heritage

Today, January 30th, Estonia celebrates Estonian Literature Day, emphasizing the country's historical respect for books and unprecedented current access to literary works. This day marks a celebration of Estonia's rich literary tradition and the diverse selection of literature available to its citizens, highlighting the progress from limited access in the past to the wide range of options available today.
In independent Estonia from 1918 to 1940, Narva boasted two public libraries: the Narva Library Society established in 1897 and the Narva Educational Union founded in 1921. Additionally, book borrowing opportunities were available at Johannes Roosipuu's trading house and N. Davydov's bookstore. Approximately ten primary, secondary, and vocational schools in the city had their libraries, and city societies and institutions typically maintained their collections, accessible even to their members' families.
Due to the limited selection of specialized literature in public libraries, professionals like doctors and teachers had to ensure they had necessary books at home. Y. Vyalbe's personal library in Narva, established in 1920 and numbering over 3,000 books, was one of the city's largest. This was his third library; the first was left in Poland due to World War I, and the second was left to settlers from the Volga region in Russia.