The culture of the province of the XIXth century in the mode of its development (based on materials of educational institutions of Kostroma province)

The article is devoted to the identification of the socio-cultural functions of educational institutions in the province. The research material is represented by the data on educational institutions and libraries of the Kostroma province in the second half of the XIXth century. This subject is investigated by using a number of different methods, of which the most significant ones are analytical, historical and cultural, with a general cultural and philosophical approach to understanding the essence and semantic scope of the socio-cultural functions of education in the development of the province. The specificity of the culture of the province in Russia is noted. The socio-cultural functions of educational institutions of different types and their role in the development of the province are reviewed. The goals and objectives of education that contributed to the development of the industrial potential of the region are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the role of the social strata involved in the educational process, in particular – merchants and benefactors. The reasons for the opening of educational institutions in a provincial town, their specifics, and socio-cultural functions are identified. The role of the intelligentsia in the formation of the image of the culture of the province is indicated. Special attention is paid to the formation of libraries, their specifics and socio-cultural functions. Different types of libraries are reviewed; the general cultural orientation of the library holdings is noted. The article presents the cultural and philosophical approach to the socio-cultural functions of education in the province, which allowed to identify the whole sum of their meanings and ways of influencing the development of culture in the province. In light of this, it is noted that the opening of new educational institutions and libraries increased the general level of literacy of the population and contributed to the acquisition of special knowledge. It is acknowledged that the impact of these processes on the cultural life of the province was great: the gradual increase in the level of literacy contributed to the social changes and it was an integral part of the process of forming the socio-cultural potential of the provincial society