Reading literature published in samizdat is an important element of the book culture of the USSR in the second half of the 20th century. The purpose of this work is to reconstruct the readership of the Odessa Samizdat Library, one of the largest unofficial collections in the territory of the Soviet Union. The research is based on interviews and memoirs of participants in the events. The facts presented in the sources show how the composition of readers and their preferences have changed throughout the existence of the library mentioned above.