I loved my job very much.
Maybe it's somehow banal,
but I went to work as if on a holiday.
Z.A.Sedaya
(From the collection of memoirs "With love about the library")
Zoya Antonovna was born in Novo-Borisov, Minsk region, into a military family. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she graduated from elementary school and, together with her parents, evacuated to the village of Otorma in the Zemetchinsky district of the Penza region.
In 1945, the family returned to the BSSR, initially to Orsha, and later to their native Novo-Borisov, where Zoya completed her schooling in 1947. She decided on her profession right away – in 1955 she graduated from the library faculty of the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute named after A.M. Gorky (now the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M. Tank) and qualified as a librarian.
As a young specialist, Z.A. Sedaya joined the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin (now the National Library of Belarus) as a librarian of the reference and bibliographic department. Genuine love for the profession, exceptional efficiency, extremely respectful attitude to readers and colleagues – Zoya Antonovna carried all this through a forty-year career in the institution.
She devoted a lot of effort and attention to the formation of the library's reference and search apparatus: she kept a subject catalog, as well as part of a systematic file of articles. Knowing perfectly well the specifics and problems of information and reference-bibliographic services for readers, she strove for its high efficiency and quality, and therefore the bibliographic references made by her were always distinguished by exhaustive completeness and accuracy.
In 1958, Z.A. Sedaya was transferred to the position of senior librarian, and four years later she headed the work of the reference and bibliographic work sector.
In accordance with the decree of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR in November 1968, the sector of reference and bibliographic work of the scientific and bibliographic department was transformed into the department of reference and bibliographic and information work. Zoya Antonovna headed this new structural division of the library.
"The employee is creative, proactive, extremely hardworking and responsible. Her natural abilities, trust and respect for people, and competence in production issues allow her to skillfully lead the department. The methodological and bibliographic works prepared by her differ in the depth of their content and have been highly appreciated by practitioners. She lovingly passes on her extensive experience to young people, paying constant attention to improving the skills of library workers in the republic. He actively delivers lectures, reports at seminars and meetings." – the materials of the personal file testify.
Due to the deterioration of her health, Z.A. Sedaya was transferred to the position of chief bibliographer at her personal request in August 1969. However, in 1983, she returned to the leadership of the department and stood at the head of this area of the library's work for the next two years.
Meeting with the writer A. Adamovich in 1984,
Zoya Antonovna is the second from the left
Zoya Antonovna is the author of a considerable number of bibliographic manuals: "Bibliographic manuals of the Belarusian SSR, 1962-1973 " (1978), "Labor and wages in the BSSR 1981-1985" (1983, 1987), "The Belarusian SSR in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (1941-1945)" (1990), " Publications of the State Library of the BSSR named after V. I. Lenin "1986-1990" (1991), " The National Library of Belarus, 1922-1992: to the 70th anniversary of its foundation and the 100th anniversary of the birth of the first director I. B. Simanovsky ""1992), "Belarus in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) " (1995), etc.
Zoya Antonovna became the compiler of the first guidebook "Libraries of Belarus" (1973), as well as one of the authors of the first "Instructions on using the reference and bibliographic apparatus of the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin" (1967), etc.
In addition, she was the editor of a number of bibliographic indexes and the author of annual reviews of the bibliographic work of regional libraries.
Being a bibliographer by vocation, she did not lose her love for the profession even after many years and recalled with nostalgia: "The work in the reference department is interesting. Questions can be extremely difficult, and when you find the answer to them, honestly, you enjoy it. I love books and readers. And I never got tired. God, there were so many interesting things!"
Active professional activity did not prevent Z.A. Sedaya from conducting public work: she was a deputy of the Leninsky District Council of People's Deputies of Minsk, a member of the trade union committee, a member of the social insurance commission.
A brilliant librarian, tireless worker Zoya Antonovna was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR and the Belarusian Republican Committee of the Trade Union of Cultural Workers (1967, 1979), the badge "For Excellent Work" (1968), the jubilee medal "For Valiant Labour" (1970), the Diploma of the Supreme Council of the BSSR for active work in the field of bibliography (1972) and the sign "Winner of the Socialist competition of 1973" (1974).
In 1995, she went on a well-deserved rest.
Colleagues warmly recall their work with her: "A bibliographer in the highest sense of the word, a constantly busy, endlessly in-demand employee, in whatever position she worked, she was always an indisputable authority in everything related to reference and bibliographic work. No matter how busy she was with work, if she was asked a question, she left all her business and explained everything in the most detailed way. Zoya Antonovna unobtrusively, but persistently and lovingly passed on her fundamental knowledge to the young library staff, infecting them not only with her dedication, but also with the desire to constantly replenish knowledge."
In 2019, Zoya Antonovna ended her life.
Read about veterans and employees of the National Library of Belarus in the section "Portraits: the history of the library in person".
The material was prepared by Irina Kuketa,
Chief Librarian of the Research Department of Library Science.
