Merchant Smirnov's House in Borisoglebsk is located at the corner of Soviet and Karl Marx streets. Built in the 1880s, it served as a residence for merchant Smirnov. From 1897 to 1917, it housed the first public library of Borisoglebsk, opened in January 1897 at the initiative of the local intelligentsia. The library was funded through membership fees, grants from various institutions, reading fees, and collections from lectures and performances. The city council, district zemstvo, Mutual Credit Society, Voronezh and Petersburg commercial banks, as well as wealthy merchants and representatives of the intelligentsia financially supported the library. Readers were divided into active members, who paid at least 5 rubles per year, and lifetime members, who contributed a one-time fee of at least 100 rubles. In its first year, the library had 175 active members, including merchants, city officials, teachers, and doctors. Others used the reading room and subscription for a lower fee. Teachers and wounded soldiers during World War I used the library for free. Library members elected a governing committee, and the book collection was replenished through donations and purchases from Moscow stores. By the end of the first year of operation, the collection numbered 1,886 titles in 3,197 volumes on various topics. In 1898, a catalog was published for the convenience of library users. The library organized literary readings and raised the issue of the need for a library congress. In the late 1890s, an illegal circle of social democrats operated at the library. During the First Russian Revolution, the library temporarily ceased operations due to the popularization of illegal literature, and the head, Z.A. Polyakova, was convicted. During the February Revolution, the library became a center of urban public life, disseminating announcements and lists of literature. Merchant Smirnov's House, a brick, one-story building with a semi-basement, has an L-shaped form. Its walls are plastered, and decorative elements are highlighted with whitewash. There was a small balcony with an ornate railing at the corner of the building. The decorative finishing is concentrated on the facades facing the streets, featuring pilasters, arcature, and plastic moldings of arched windows. The internal layout is typical for residential houses of the mid-19th century, with a corridor dividing the building into public and service areas. A one-story wooden wing adjoins the house. The building houses a children's library.