V. I.   Lenin

Draft Decision for the Politbureau of the C.C., R.C.P.(B.) on
The Free Sale of Books from Moscow Warehouse Stocks^[1]

Written: Written September 13, 1921
Published: First published in 1959 in Lenin Miscellany XXXVI. Printed from the manuscript.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, 1st English Edition, Progress Publishers, 1965, Moscow, Volume 42, pages 342^b-343^a.
Translated: Yuri Sdobnikov
Transcription\Markup: D. Walters
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive (2003). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
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1.) Stock-taking of books in Moscow warehouses to be carried out jointly by the Moscow Soviet and the Chief Committee for Political Education;

2) The C.C.P.E. to be allowed to take such books from store as are needed for libraries, Moscow’s interests being fully observed in the distribution of these books; to ensure that these interests are duly observed, the C.C.P.E. is obliged to satisfy the requirements of the Moscow Gubernia Committee for Political Education, which has the right to appeal against its decisions in the course of three days

3) Pornography and books on religious subjects shall not be released for free sale, and shall be turned over to the Paper Industry Board as wastepaper.

4) The sale of foreign books shall be freely permitted.

Notes

[1] Lenin’s motion was adopted by the Politbureau on September 13, 1921. Point 4 was crossed out by Lenin and not included in the decision of the Politbureau.

The question of book sales was re-examined by the Politbureau at its meeting on October 15, at which it confirmed its decision of September 13 and outlined concrete practical, measures for its implementation; special attention was given to measures for preventing all kinds of anti-Soviet literature from getting into the book trade