Polish publishers collect books for Ukrainian refugee children

The Polish Foundation Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania (Foundation of Public Reading) created an initiative to donate books to Ukrainian refugees. This was reported on the website of the foundation.

The foundation, a team of more than 20 Polish publishers and distributors, manages efforts to supply books to Ukrainian refugee children in Poland and funds to Ukrainian publishers.

«The first effort was to collect donations of books with pictures and colouring books from Polish publishers, «books you don’t need to read», – Maria Descourt, CEO of the organization’s director told to Publishers Weekly.

Members of the foundation collected contact information from about 40 Ukrainian publishers of children’s and adult books. Ukrainian publishers began e-mailing book files to Polish printing houses, who volunteered to print them for free.

Depending on the success of the fundraiser, the fund hopes to pay Ukrainian publishers between one and three euros for each book published.

The organization aims to continue to buy children’s books, depending on the amount collected, and all the costs for printing, distribution and coordination are covered by the Polish business. Children’s literature is a priority.

For the people of Poland, according to Maria Deskur, the war is «very close». While the urgent need for food, housing and medical care is being addressed by other aid organizations, Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania can offer emotional support to children through literature. As the foundation’s publishers have turned to their international partners, support is also coming from outside Poland.

We would like to remind you that the British publishers collect things for children from Ukraine. An anti-war children’s book has also been published in Georgia, and the income from its sales will be used to help Ukrainian children.