Charity project of the UCU Library “I want to read”

  • Charity project of the UCU Library “I want to read”

    The life of every Ukrainian has changed radically since February 24. Changes took place in all spheres of life and did not bypass education. Subsequent to the beginning of a full-scale war between russia and Ukraine, the Library of the Ukrainian Catholic University is doing everything possible to help Ukrainians survive the difficult times, including with the help of literature and access to information. The library team has already collected hundreds of books for Ukrainians who were forced to leave the territory of Ukraine due to the war. The first stage of the new project “I Want To Read” will be launched with the beginning of the academic year, in which books and funds will be collected for the restoration of libraries in destroyed schools.

    The director of the UCU Library Oksana Mykytyn told us everything about the new project I Want To Read, the life of the library during the war and volunteering.

    The value of literature in wartime

    Our colleagues from the Public Library of the Polish town of Goldup approached us in March of this year. They asked us for help in replenishing their funds with Ukrainian-language literature, because refugees from Ukraine who needed books in their native language were arriving in the city. Of course, the Library team personally joined such a gathering and announced this need among the community and all interested parties. We were pleasantly surprised how quickly people responded to the request and stepped up. Books were brought to us in large bags and in most cases they were only new editions. We managed to collect more than two hundred books in just a few days. I’d like to note that we accepted literature only in Ukrainian for children and adults, mainly fiction and popular science.

    While collecting books, we received a new request from the library of Krakow city (Biblioteka.Kraków). Another colleagues from Poland applied to us with a request to organize such a Happy Corner for temporarily replaced Ukrainian children, specifically stresing that there is a great need for this. In this case we managed to collect even more books. Their number reached about three hundred new editions. Ukrainians are one big caring family.

    Later on, our Library joined a large collection of books for forcibly replaced Ukrainian pupils and students in the city of Bruges in Switzerland.
    The staff of the Library would like to express special gratitude to Roksolyana Tymyak-Lonchina for the donation of a large number of new books “My name is Lada, and you?”. We gave them to Ukrainian children in Poland and Switzerland, as a piece of home and joy and as a gift from the author herself.

    We make sure and understand how important such support is again and again.This was confirmed by another appeal that we received this time from France, from the small charming town of Bois-Colombe, which is not far from Paris. We were approached by local volunteers who also support Ukraine in this difficult time. They decided to organize a corner with Ukrainian-language literature for our citizens in one of the local libraries. We have recently successfully completed this collection. By the way, our partners Stary Lev Publishing House and the Lviv Ivan Franko National Literary and Memorial Museum (Franko House), which handed over books from the School publishing house, also joined this process.

    I Want To Read project

    The new academic year will start soon. Pupils and students will return to the educational process. And the war in Ukraine is not over yet… So far! Not all children have a place to return to, and not all have the opportunity to study at all…

    This is evidenced by one of the latest appeals to us. Recently, we received a letter of request from the NGO International Support for Reforms. The main goal of the organization is to make access to education possible again for children living in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. These regions were among the first to face the russians, as a result of which they lost a significant part of the educational infrastructure. The priority plans of this organization include the creation of an educational center that will function in the village of Bohdanivka, in which the russians burned down the school and kindergarten, as well as all the library funds of both educational institutions.

    Before:

    Actually, for all these valid reasons, we decided to start the I Want To Read project at the Library of the Ukrainian Catholic University. It will support the Ukrainian language, education and culture through books and reading. Our main goal for now is to be useful. Therefore, we are starting the collection of books for the restoration of the library in the Bohdanivka secondary school of grades I-III of the Kyiv region. We encourage all caring people to contribute to this good, bright intention.

    After (in process)

    The I Want To Read project aims to collect and hand over 1000 books for the restoration of the library in the Bohdanivka secondary school of grades I-III of the Kyiv region.

    What kind of books do you need?

    • in Ukrainian;
    • without age restrictions;
    • by topics: fiction and popular scientific literature;
    • after 2005, in good condition.

    Where to bring?

    • To the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskii Center (Stryyska St., 29A),
    • to the library at the Philosophical and Theological Faculty (Khutorivka St., 35A). Books can be transferred to the UCU Library during September-November 2022.
    • If you do not have the opportunity to bring the books to these locations, then you can send them by using delivery services such as Nova Poshta or Ukrposhta.
      For details, contact us via email: [email protected]
      or the Library’s social network.

    If you are unable to bring or send books, you can join the project financially and donate by following the link. All funds will be converted into books purchased by us and sent to restore reading in the destroyed place. The whole process will be transparent and reliable, and we promise to report everything.

     

    The I Want To Read project will contribute to the distribution of Ukrainian books. All together we will support the level of education in Ukraine, the activities of Ukrainian publishing houses and, in general, help preserve and not lose, not disperse our national identity in this difficult time. After all, the future of our integral, invincible Ukraine depends on seemingly small, but sincerely good deeds!

    • 24 Серпня
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