Ms Sipakova was born on April 3, 1935, in the Tabachniki village of the Gorodok district of the Vitebsk region in a family of farmers.
After finishing Pylkinsky seven-year school in 1951, she studied in the N.K Krupskaya Cultural and Educational School and then graduated from the V.I. Lenin Belarusian State University where she obtained a profession of Philologist, Teacher of the Russian and Belarusian Language and Literature in Secondary School. In 1959, she began her career as teacher of the Belarusian language and literary reading in 5-7 grades at the Pusky Secondary School.
In 1960, Ms Sipakova married Mr Ivan Sipakov, who later became a well-known Belarusian poet, writer, translator and literary researcher.
Before fate brought her to the BSSR State Library named after V.I. Lenin Ms Sipakova had worked in Minsk as a teacher in kindergarten No. 122.
In 1967, Ms Sipakova began her professional career in the Department of Belarusian Literature and Bibliography of the State Library where she was admitted as a librarian and where she worked fruitfully until her retirement.
As part of her professional duties, Ms Sipakova maintained an alphabetical catalogue of the Department, identified and described anthology materials not registered in the "Chronicles of Printing of the BSSR" for card indexes. Ms Sipakova generously shared her knowledge, giving presentations at seminars and conferences, consulted the library staff and readers on the topics of Belarusian fiction.
The accumulated professional experience and excellent knowledge allowed Ms Sipakova to become Head of the Sector in the Department of the Reference Aids Organization on December 1, 1983. In this position, she coordinated comprehensive services for scientists, national economy specialists, literature and art workers in Belarusian study issues.
Having thoroughly studied the National Documents Collection, Ms Sipakova competently solved complex written inquiries and oral requests by readers, sometimes demanding significant bibliographic research.
"God's Bibliographer" – this was how the colleagues characterized Ms Sipakova. Her rich reviews on Belarusian fiction aroused great interest not only among readers but also among library staff.
"Review of Belarusian Fiction" compiled by her was included in the methodical manual "Prosper, My Land, My Country" published on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the BSSR and the Communist Party of Belarus.
Among the significant scientific works of the librarian is the recommendation bibliography "Belarusian Literature" compiled in collaboration with Ms Vatatzi and Ms Kovalenko. Besides, Ms Sipakova was member of the editorial board of the "Literature and Art" publishing house.
The achievements of Ms Sipakova were highly appreciated by the library's management: she was awarded the Medal of Honour of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR and the Belarussian National Committee of the Trade-Union of Cultural Workers, and the Veteran of Labour Medal.
After reaching retirement age, Ms Sipakova took a well-deserved rest.
Having risen through the ranks from librarian to Head of the Sector in the Belarusian department, Ms Sipakova left a good mark in the history of the National Library of Belarus. The staff of the Belarusian Literature Reading Room have always spoken warmly and respectfully of her.
Mr Dmitry Davidovsky recalls: “Ms Sіpakova, the wife of our renowned Yanka Sіpakov, highly intelligent and well-educated, had a very charming sense of humour. When she felt “cramped” among co-workers, she ran to “hide” to us at the book storage where the three of us – me, Ms Velichko and Ms Sipakova would recall folk fables, anecdotes, sayings, proverbs, etc. The loud laughter shook the storage. Ms Sipakova was very humble. She grew up in the country where she absorbed diligence, love and respect for mother Earth that gives us food, water and clothes. We developed a friendly relationship with Ms Sipakova. She treated me like her son..."
Bibliology Research Department
