At all times, people who, by their position and status, could afford to collect a private library did not limit themselves to a simple accumulation of books. They made this activity a cult, creating not only collections of rare volumes but also unique places to store these treasures.
Separate rooms were allocated for book collections, furniture was selected, and the interior was arranged in a special way. Later, specialized buildings appeared, which became a separate architectural trend in the twentieth century.
It was as if they were writing the rules of the game for this space – here, in the library, there would be nothing more important than knowledge. In this place, all attention will be focused exclusively on receiving and absorbing information and immersing oneself in it.
Often, the interior of a library was more like a scenery for the play in which one was invited to participate by immersing oneself in reading books. A striking example is the Gothic Room, or Cabinet of Faust, in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. Here is how its furnishings are described:… “The Gothic Hall or Faust’s Cabinet was built and furnished in medieval style in 1857 according to the project of architects I.I. Gornostaev and V.I. Sobolshchikov. 
The brightly painted cross-shaped vaults of the plafond rest on a massive middle pillar made up of four columns joined into one. Two lancet windows with their rosettes and trefoils of colored glass; colossal bookcases, whose far-reaching cornices are supported by twisted columns, rise up to the vault; a heavy table and armchairs, a stand for writing, such as may be seen on old woodcuts that has a cuckoo clock and an Arabian green globe with an astrolabe, and a vampire floating calmly on an invisible thread under the ceiling; a bench for reading books covered with chains: everything, from the clumsy hinges and locks on the side doors to the inkwell reminds one of a monastery library of the fifteenth “typographical” century. “
Of course, we do not promise you a vampire “floating” under the ceiling, but the information collected in the Menshikova Library is unique. There are over 1000 volumes on the site. On any subject. On Greek, Roman, Slavic, Scandinavian gods…
Our time of lectures, simplified movie plots, and having things laid out for us by other people posing as specialists has spoiled us. We are used to having everything recycled and served up on a platter. But what is the value of such reading? What are we spending our time on?
The search for the information your soul needs, my friends, is the natural selection you must undergo for yourself. Without the search, no credit will be given. If I chew it up and put it in your mouth, believe me, the value of such swallowing will be minimized. And the most valuable information in this world in your mind will be completely nullified. Which means it will be nullified in my mind, too. And I won’t let that happen!
About the library I’ve simplified the process as much as possible. I put there only that literature, in which there are magical keys. And I will never put empty books that ring God knows what, but not about magic. Reading the books in my library, you are sure to find something for yourself. But unfortunately, I do not have the right to emphasize and highlight such moments.
When you find it – then quantity will turn into quality. Reading a myth about a certain god, you cannot miss this state that you are reading about yourself. And I have tried to make the largest possible selection of all existing deities.
For the most part, I am a specialist in Scandinavian mythology. Accordingly, I will tell you a lot about the Scandinavian gods in the process of studying runes. A lot.
Seek, and you will find.
We suggest you start your introduction to the Menshikova Library with a short story.
Lada Luzina “The Devil is Retired.”
The Devil loved to go to church.
He loved the pristine white walls of small provincial churches that looked like prop warehouses, the majestic lilac dust of Notre Dame, the pointed steeples of Catholic churches, and the dark gloom of Kremlin churches that seemed to pierce the heavy Moscow sky.
He liked to go there on weekdays and holidays.
He did not go there out of duty; he loved….
But most of all, the Devil loved Kyiv Lavra. Read more…