State Archive of the Tver' Oblast'

Address: 170005, Tver', ul. Gor'kogo d. 71a
Web: http://tverarchive.ru Email: tverarchive@mail.ru
Phone: (4822) 52-53-56
Fax: (4822) 52-28-07
Archive Director: Elena Nikolaevna Efremova
Chief Archivist: Irina Aleksandrovna Seliankina

Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 0900 - 1730
Thursday: 1130 - 2000

At the entrance security desk, hand over your passport and your letter to the director. The garderob is in a small room to the right, with lockers. You will fill in a form and be given an access pass for the archive. On every visit, you exchange this pass at the security desk for a plastic card that you use to swipe in and out with at the turnstile. Keep this card for the whole day and exchange it back for your pass at the end of the day. The door to the reading room, clearly labelled, is slightly to the left on the corridor that opens out in front of you. Reading room staff will give you an anketa to fill out.

NB: The following information only applies to pre-revolutionary documents! Due to their fragility and value, old (19th century and before) documents are given out only as scans, to be consulted on the reading room computers. It is highly recommended to email and phone several weeks ahead with details of the fondy of interest (which you have will find in the online putevoditel' on the archive website). Archive staff had scanned some of the fondy that interested me and they were immediately available for consultation - no waiting time. This researcher had been unable to consult opisi before going to Tver' and thus did not know which specific dela were required. Starting scanning at the top of a wishlist of extremely large fondy, the archive staff had at some point, reasonably enough, run out of time, and key dela were unfortunately not scanned. Reading room staff were friendly and helpful, but remain unswayed by pleadings of how very useful certain dela would be and how carefully the originals would be handled, although with more time they might have relented. More recent dela, which are given out in original form, may be quicker, although this author did not use them. The archive website states three days as waiting time.

Upon arrival in the reading room you must immediately sign in in the correct book on the left (there are two: students and non-students). There are only two computers in the reading room. On these computers, users read pre-revolutionary material (staff will log in for you). The computers also hold scans of the opisi of the archive, which users consult on the computer and NOT in paper form. The computers are therefore in high demand, so it's best to arrive early if you are reading pre-revolutionary material. You may use a laptop, but must first write a letter to the vice director asking permission (a formality only, you can hand-write a letter there and then and use your laptop immediately). There are some sockets for laptops near the computers, but not many. The reading room is quite small and gets very hot in summer. There is a door at the side of the reading room leading directly to the corridor, avoiding the anteroom where the archivists work. Use this side door when you go for a break or to the toilet. The toilets, which are clean and have toilet paper and soap, are at the far end of the corridor. There is no canteen. In the garderob, the security staff has a kettle and a microwave. They are very friendly and talkative, and will probably let you eat a packed lunch there.