In the JINR Universal Library

They congratulated "Eureka" on its anniversary

On 29 March, the 50th anniversary of the legendary bookstore "Eureka" was celebrated at the JINR Universal Library.

The memorable meeting was attended by employees and customers of the store, as well as the citizens of Dubna that remembered the cozy interiors of the bookstore since childhood or were simply interested in the history and architecture of Dubna.

First director S.A.Afonina (standing) with store employees (1974)

At first, the Dubna bookstore was located in the first building of the JINR hotel, where the Management of the Hotel and Restaurant Complex is located today. Later, the store moved to 8 Kurchatova St., where they sold technical literature and fiction, as well as textbooks and stationery. After a while, technical literature remained on 8 Kurchatova St. and textbooks, fiction and office supplies moved to the building opposite, 10 Kurchatova St. The new store building on 11 Veksler St. according to N.N. Prislonov's calendar of significant dates, opened on 30 March, 1974. It united the departments of stationery, technical, fiction and educational literature.

The store had a foreign books section. Only 15 capitals of the Union Republics, Leningrad and Dubna had it. "Eureka" supplied scientific literature from the most famous publishing houses in the USA, England, France to the JINR scientific library, to Atominform in Moscow, to the libraries of the universities of Tbilisi, Sofia, Poland and Vietnam. In the full sense of the word, it served world science.

It is unknown who the architect and interior designer were. The architecture of the store is somewhat similar to the architecture of a universal library and Soviet modernism: open plan, concrete, continuous glazing, columns, decorative pieces (stained-glass windows, floors).

The citizens of Dubna still remember the stylish interiors of the store, floors made of colored concrete, light bookshelves and furniture, wrought-iron partitions, bright stained-glass windows. And of course, a fountain-pool surrounded by plants, with clear water and pebbles at the bottom. Water, murmuring, flowed into the pool from the top of an artistic ceramic composition that was made at a factory in Verbilki, the artist and craftsman are unknown.

"Eureka" was not just a store, but a store-club. An important part of the work of its employees was the organization of reading meetings, meetings with writers and book clubs. Among the celebrities that came here for club meetings was, for example, Eddie Limonov. The store had a "Store Promotion Council" and a "Society of Book Lovers" headed by Galina Aniskina.

The store was very popular in the city; one could buy really good books here. The line before the delivery, however, had to be occupied early in the night; there were also book lovers that spent the night in the entrance opposite and even brought cots.

Among the regulars of the store we can name M.G.Meshcheryakov, V.P.Dzhelepov, G.N.Flerov, V.G.Kadyshevsky, I.N.Semenyushkin, Yu.D.Nikitsky, L.I.Lapidus, P.A.Zhuravlev, I.S.Seleznev, P.S.Isaev and other famous citizens of Dubna.

In the 1990s, the store had to survive, like many other organizations. The employees opened Eureka LLP. The store at present has departments for souvenirs and art products. The store was then purchased by a private individual. The bookstore closed in 2005. The building today houses a grocery store; the location and fate of the beautiful store sign and its decorative pieces remain unknown.

The meeting began with a large photo presentation dedicated to the history of the store, its employees and customers. After that, store employees and everyone wishing to share words of gratitude and warm memories of the store "Eureka" spoke on stage.

Mariya PILIPENKO