Folk Readings as one of the Forms of Organization of Rural Extracurricular Education in the Orel Province in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries

The article is devoted to the analysis of the situation in the field of literacy among the rural, mainly peasant population through holding public readings. The authors made an attempt to study the legislative framework, to study the state policy and recommendations on the methodology for organizing mass public readings. The relevance of the study lies in the poor knowledge of the out-of-school form of education in the Russian Empire, including within the framework of the Oryol province, in the period under study. Particular attention was paid to holding readings on the territory of the Oryol province, analyzing the demand for this area of work among the peasant population. In the course of the research, the following methods were used: general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, the principle of historicism, comparative historical, mathematical and other methods. As a result of the study, the reasons for the popularity of folk readings among the villagers were established. At the same time, there is a noticeable lack of consistency in the conduct of this work, a plan for the organization and dissemination of religious and moral education of young people has not been formed. The reasons that hinder this process are identified: a lack of funds, a meager material and technical base of libraries, a lack of qualified teachers. The state has shifted the responsibility to the local authorities and the public. At the same time, throughout the entire period under study, there has been a steady increase in interest among the peasant population in folk readings and books.