Director of the V. H. Korolenko State Scientific Library of Kharkiv
Natalia Petrenko is the Director of V. H. Korolenko State Scientific Library of Kharkiv, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Library Association, an all-Ukrainian public organization.
Research interests: automation of library and bibliographic processes, digitization of documents, history of librarianship, popularization of reading.
For more than 20 years, she worked at the Donetsk Regional Universal Scientific Library, where she rose from a librarian and a sector manager to a deputy director general for user services and automation of library processes. Due to the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, she moved to Kharkiv in 2014. Later, she embarked on working at V. H. Korolenko State Scientific Library of Kharkiv and a month before the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, she became its head. She developed the Library Development Strategy for 2022-2026 as well as digital modernization of the institution’s activities, and technical transformation of the library space.
Today, one of the oldest and largest libraries in Ukraine and Europe, V. H. Korolenko State Scientific Library of Kharkiv, needs help after being damaged by the military aggression of the Russian Federation. Due to the inability to provide optimal storage conditions, the fate of the unique library collection of 7.2 million copies is now under threat.
Thanks to the library staff, grants, and international volunteer support, a titanic effort is being made to secure the collection and digital resources of the library. We are grateful to everyone for their contribution and participation in the noble cause of preserving and restoring the Ukrainian cultural heritage.
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Contact: restore@mkip.gov.ua