Our collaboration with the Cherkasy Regional Library commenced with the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. The capital, Kyiv, and border regions were the first to come under attack, and were subjected to enormous shelling. Many residents of these areas sought refuge in Cherkasy region, an area with a relatively higher degree of security, and we have focused on that region as one of our primary on-ground work to help Ukrainians.
We are currently working in the villages of Garbuzyn, Ivangorod, and Valyava.
Ukraine Little Book Houses Fundraiser
We’re building library housed book spaces, consisting of handcrafted book houses and collections of children books. These spaces, designed by local Ukrainian artisans, will provide safe havens for children to read, learn, and dream. Your donation will contribute to the construction of these houses as well as filling them with children’s books. We have phased goals, starting with Cherkasy and expanding to Kyiv and other regions.
Our Project Stages:
- Cherkasy Launch (Goal: $5,000) – 3 Book Houses, purchasing of children’s books
- Kyiv Expansion (Goal: $10,000) – 3 more Book Houses, more books
- Ukraine-Wide Impact (Goal: $25,000) – 4 more Book Houses in other villages, expanding our book collection
Your Donation Will Fund:
- Construction: Each book house is built by local artisans, supporting the Ukrainian economy.
- Books: We will curate each book sharing house with a steady stream of children’s books.
Past Support for Cherkasy
Since the onset of the war, the Cherkasy Regional Library named after Taras Shevchenko has received incredible support from the School of Information at San José State University. Thanks to the dedication of Cherkasy-born Dr. Ulia Gosart, and the care of the School’s director, Dr. Anthony Chow, libraries in the Cherkasy region have felt continuous aid.
2022
- June 15: The first international symposium titled “Ukrainian Libraries in the Russo-Ukrainian War” was held. It led to fundraising and the purchase of the first book scanner to digitize rare and valuable publications at the Cherkasy Library.
- September–October: A regional children’s drawing contest “Children Paint War, Not Flowers” was organized in 40 libraries for internally displaced children and children of Ukrainian soldiers. Supplies were mailed to libraries, and winners (14 children) received wireless headphones and USB drives as prizes
- 450 digitized drawings, conveying the truth about the war in Ukraine and the experiences of Ukrainian children, were shared with American society through exhibitions across libraries and universities, and featured in the SUCHO (Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online) gallery.
- December 16: With Dr. Gosart’s help, SUCHO provided Cherkasy with €9,776.11 in aid for digitization equipment, furniture, and computer upgrades. A new Digital Library Department was created.
- Dr. Gosart and SUCHO also donated a very high quality Bookeye 5 scanner and a PowerStation Anker 767 electric charging station ensuring continuity during power outages. The SUCHO project is a significant achievement in ensuring the security of a large amount of digital cultural heritage in Ukraine and demonstrates that people, even from a distance, can take real measures to protect cultural heritage in a crisis situation.
2023
- April 5: Symposium “Ukrainian Libraries During Wartime: A Year in Review”
- May 25: Thanks to Dr. Gosart and partners from Stanford and Rivne, the library received bilingual copies of “The Story of the Whales” by K.L. Landers.
- June 29: Unlimited cloud storage granted by Nextcloud for the library’s digital collections.
- August 7: Shipment of popular modern books from the U.S. (thanks to Cori Potts and UNC Greensboro students).
- August 18–25: The library director participated in the 88th IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Rotterdam, delivering presentations on preserving cultural heritage during war.
- October 18: Third symposium held by SJSU focused on rural libraries in Ukraine.
2024
- April 2–3: International scientific-practical conference, “Library Business of Cherkasy Region: From Primary Sources to the Present“, celebrates 125th anniversary of the founding of the First Public Library in Cherkasy, the 70th anniversary since it was granted the status of a regional library, as well as the 70th anniversary of the regional library for children.
- June 27–July 2: At the ALA 2024 Conference in San Diego Dr. Gosart and Dr. Chow hosted a session on “Supporting Public Libraries in Ukraine”
- A VR exhibit showcased drawings from the “Children Paint War, Not Flowers” contest.
- June 30: Financial aid from St. Catherine’s Church helped establish a public “Cooperation Space” with new furniture and display stands.
- July–August: Regional children’s poetry contest “Children’s Voices of War” held, with headphone prizes and plans to publish a collection with translations and illustrations from the 2022 art contest.
- November 5: Another successful U.S.–Ukraine symposium titled “Services for Veterans and People with Special Needs” was held.
- December 26: SUCHO provided office equipment (laptop, printer, speaker system, router, software, accessories) worth $3,508 to three rural libraries.
2025
- February 10: The library received 373 English-language books and 6 board game sets, collected at the ALA Annual Conference by Dr. Gosart, Dr. Chow, and Sara Clair. The collection includes fiction for all ages, popular science, comics, and games.
- February 25: The children’s drawings exhibit was displayed at Florida State University, accompanied by a video of contest winner Nazar Shcherbatyuk, who spoke about his illustrated heroes of Ukraine.
- March 7: A Zoom meeting was held to discuss new collaboration projects to help to preserve and popularize Ukrainian cultural heritage.
- June 26-30: Fundraising efforts continue at the ALA conference in Philadelphia with the help of San Jose State University