Ukrainian Libraries in Wartime

Our Mission

Ukrainian Libraries in Wartime has been a set of initiatives at the iSchool since 2022. The iSchool has supported public libraries in Ukraine by educating people around the globe about the state of libraries in Ukraine via ongoing symposia series.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine we have worked to provide support to the Regional Universal Scientific Library named after Taras Shevchenko in Cherkasy, a City Library Branch for Children No. 1 of the Boyarka Public Library, Kyiv Region, and the Kherson Regional Universal Library in the city of Kherson.

 

Our Regions

We currently have established and trusted contacts in three critical areas of Ukraine: Cherkasy, Boyarka, and Kherson as shown on the map below.

Click through to learn more about these regions and our work here:

Cherkasy Boyarka Kherson

 

Photo source: https://gisgeography.com/ukraine-map/

 

 

Our Fundraisers

 

1.  Cherkasy and Boyarka Village Libraries

Village libraries in Ukraine are the only social hubs in their communities, but they are in desperate need of books. They support local schools, elderly, internally displaced persons in addition to servicing their regular readers.

We are working to help 7 villages by raising $1000 per each village.

On this project we continue working with our Ukrainian partners – Liudmila Diadyk, director of the Cherkasy Regional Universal Scientific Library, and Marina Sokolova, head of the City Library Branch for Children No. 1 of the Boyarka Public Library.

 

2. Ukraine Little Book Houses

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.

 

3. Restore Kherson Braille Book Collection
This project aims to redevelop a collection of Braille books at Oles Honchar Kherson Regional Universal Scientific Library (Kherson Library), which was repeatedly targeted and destroyed during the war in Ukraine. This collection of over 400 titles was lost and its restoration is critically important for the many children who experienced visual impairment or loss, and often critical eye injuries, during the war.