1 Introduction

The challenges faced by children's library services in Russia were discussed, including declining interest in reading, lack of effective guidance systems, underdeveloped local children's book publishing industry, and tight funding. Since 2018, the number of children's users in Russian libraries has been growing slowly, and library institutions are facing mergers and reorganizations, resulting in a decrease in the number of specialized children's libraries. In this context, the Russian government and library industry organizations have issued a series of policy guidance documents and industry norms to ensure that children receive high-quality library services. The "Guidelines for Children's Services in Russian Libraries", as an important guiding standard, has been revised twice since its first release in 2009 and currently has three editions. The research on the Russian children's library industry and children's reading in the domestic academic community mainly focuses on reading therapy, laws, regulations, and policies related to library children's services, while Russian scholars pay attention to issues such as children's reading safety guarantee, digital resource construction, and library space renovation. This article will compare the changes in the three editions of the "Guidelines", interpret the development direction of children's library services in Russia, and analyze its reference significance for the legislation of children's libraries in China.

Analysis of the Framework of the 2019 Edition of the Guidelines

The 2019 edition of the "Guidelines for Children's Services in Russian Libraries" provides principles, standards, and resource guarantee requirements for children's library activities in Russia. It includes seven parts: introduction, general principles, users, institutional settings, services, resources, service declarations, and references. The legal basis is the norms of the Russian Federation and industry organizations. The general principle elaborates on the mission, goals, tasks, and principles of children's libraries; Clearly define the main user groups and special users in the user section; The institutional setting section introduces the four level service system, functions, business scope, service duration, and quantitative indicators; Define the service content and the scope of free and paid services in the service section; The resource section covers collection, information, materials, technology, human resources, and financial security requirements; Summarize the basic functions and core values of the service declaration; The reference section explains the legal basis and compilation basis.

Interpretation of the Revised Content of the 2019 Edition of the Guidelines

Compared to the 2009 and 2016 editions, the 2019 edition of the "Russian Library Children's Service Guidelines" has clarified and optimized the purpose, principles, reading safety guarantees, graded reading services for children, digitally empowered reading services, and accessibility service conditions for children's services. The changes in the title and subject of the guide reflect the expansion of its scope of application, with the addition of a declaration and five service principles, emphasizing the integrity and aesthetics of resources. We have strengthened the safety guarantee mechanism for children's reading, including age classification of information products and zoning preservation of library resources. We have promoted graded reading services for children, requiring libraries to classify resources and services based on the age characteristics of children. Improved digital empowered reading services, including providing paper and digital resources, building virtual reading rooms, and participating in the construction of national digital children's libraries. Improved accessibility service conditions and revised accessibility services for children's libraries from both hardware and software perspectives, including spatial layout, facility equipment, and collection resources.

4 Problems with the 2019 edition of the Guide

The 2019 edition of the Guide has made improvements in structure and content, but there are still issues. The service evaluation system is not comprehensive, lacks qualitative indicators, and has not formed a specialized evaluation system for children's libraries. The resource allocation standards have not been updated in a timely manner, and some data is still in the old version. The equipment configuration has not been adjusted according to the growth of the child population.

Implementation Status of the 2019 Edition of the Guidelines

Since the implementation of the 2019 edition of the Guidelines, the demand for children's library services in Russia has increased, and the number of specialized children's libraries has rebounded to 3230 in 2023 after experiencing a reduction. Public libraries provide children with a better reading environment, with significant hardware facilities and digital transformation, but the service quality has not fully met the standards. The Russian Ministry of Culture's "Cultural Environment" program supports the renovation of children's libraries, with 157 libraries receiving government funding support. 60% of public libraries have children's reading areas, but small city and rural libraries still face content grading challenges. The development of new media services is rapid, and the usage of online services is increasing. Almost all children's libraries provide access to digital resources. However, there is insufficient allocation of literature resources, limited funding for small city and rural libraries, and the proportion of children's publications does not meet the standards of the Guidelines. In terms of the construction of the library staff team, the staffing is tight, but the proportion of senior title librarians in the Central Children's Library has increased.

6 inspirations for the standardization construction of children's services in Chinese libraries

Emphasis was placed on the special position of children readers in library services, and it was pointed out that the "Public Library Children's Service Standards" provide guidance in terms of service conditions, quality improvement, and protection of reading rights, but there is still room for further improvement. The "Guidelines" provide inspiration for the standardization construction of children's services in Chinese libraries, including refining the standards for the allocation of children's service resources, establishing clear performance indicators for libraries, and improving accessible service conditions. The Guidelines provide quantitative and qualitative indicators for resource allocation, while the Standards are more general in this regard. The "Guidelines" also provide service objectives, means, and content for special needs children, while the "Norms" have relatively broad provisions in this regard. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Construction of Barrier free Environment provides a legal basis for future revisions of the Regulation.

7 Conclusion

Children's reading plays an important role in Russian culture and education policies, and Russia attaches great importance to the legalization of children's libraries. The "Guidelines" have been revised to promote standardization and normalization of children's services, safeguard children's rights, but there are also issues such as delayed updates. The 2019 edition of the "Guidelines" highlights user needs, protects children from the influence of harmful information, optimizes service facilities, innovates service methods, provides legal basis for children's services, and safeguards children's reading rights. The experience of formulating standards for children's services in Russian libraries has reference value for standardizing and systematizing the protection of children's reading rights in China.