Rural libraries sorely lacking books

On November 14 the roundtable “Rural Libraries: first come, first issued a book?” was held in Lviv as part of the charitable initiative “Ukrainian Books for Rural Libraries” of the Book Forum NGO and the Lviv Regional Children’s Library. It is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation Anti-Crisis Humanitarian Program.

There are currently fewer than three books published since independent per rural resident. Of the 6 million books on the shelves of rural libraries, more than 40% are Russian books published during the Soviet Union. However, 86% of readers prefer to read in Ukrainian and many children and youth don’t know the language well enough to read Russian books. Not surprisingly, fewer and fewer people are visiting rural libraries: the drop ranges from 2-10% in different parts of the oblast.  

The organizers of “Ukrainian Books for Rural Libraries” hope to collect 25,000 books for rural libraries.

Contacts:
Book Forum
Maryana Kira
(+380 32) 276 41 52
+380 97 352 10 08

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The aim of the Rule of Law Program is to support the civil society initiatives directed to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, to promote strengthened legal consciousness and public activity at the central and local levels.