Ukrainian Bookshelves Worldwide Project, implemented by the NGOs Chytomo and the Ukrainian Literary Center, aims to highlight and analyze initiatives that distribute Ukrainian books to Ukrainian refugees abroad during the war.

Fragile and threatened in the times of war, the Ukrainian book publishing industry remains courageous, and publishing houses, independent initiative groups, and librarians organize bookshelves abroad to help children of Ukrainian refugees and their parents feel connected to their lost homes and distant homeland.

The goal of Ukrainian Bookshelves Worldwide Project is to highlight the efforts of the organizers of such initiatives, learn about their work and the challenges they face, and make their experience useful to those who are only planning to create a Ukrainian bookshelf in their city, organization, or establishment, or improve the work of an existing one, and want to help Ukrainian books become more accessible abroad.

Ukrainian bookshelves, as we see it, are books in the Ukrainian language collected on purpose, presented, and made available to the public for free.

Within bounds of Ukrainian Bookshelves Worldwide Project a survey of organization, institutions, and cultural institutions that have established Ukrainian bookshelves in other countries was conducted, a Database of such initiatives was made and a Handbook that contains recommendations on team building, fundraising, work with the audience, program content, and organization of Ukrainian bookshelves for those who are going to implement such an initiative in their city or improve the work of the one that exists was prepared.

The project partners are Ukrainian Book Institute, Ukrainian Library Association, The Association of German Librarians, Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The project was implemented with the support of the Stabilization Fund for Culture and Education of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and Goethe-Institut.

Сontacts

partners.chytomo@gmail.com