25 thousand books for Ukrainian libraries were delivered from Great Britain. PHOTO
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At the end of November, over 25,000 books of various genres in English arrived in Kyiv from London. This is a joint initiative of the Book Aid International charity fund, the English PEN and the International PEN.
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The publications were brought to the office of the Ukrainian PEN, where they will be prepared for sending to libraries throughout Ukraine. The PEN team is currently analyzing library requests, sorting books and preparing them for shipment.
In addition, part of the books will be brought to the libraries by the participants of the PEN literary volunteer trips to the de-occupied and front-line territories.
| Photo: Mykhailo Palinchak |
Among the books that arrived in Ukraine are books from the leading publishers of Great Britain: Penguin Random House, Oxford University Press, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Unbound. This is a publication for children and teenagers (fiction, non-fiction publications, books for learning English) and for adults (classics, biographies, memoirs, reports, essays, publications for self-development).
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| Photo: Mykhailo Palinchak |
“We know that since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, libraries have become a refuge for communities and a place where reading and learning can continue. I want to sincerely thank all publishing houses that supported the idea of helping Ukrainian libraries“, said the executive director of Book Aid International Alison Tweed.
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The initiative started in August of this year, when a collection of applications from Ukrainian libraries to receive books in English was announced. In three months, more than 800 applications were collected, the libraries most needed literature for children and teenagers, textbooks for learning English and non-fiction for adults.
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| Photo: Mykhailo Palinchak |
To participate in the project, libraries had to present a plan for the promotion of English-language literature. “The promotion of the books will take place directly to the audience for which we order books – for philology students, children attending English courses and members of the English Conversation Club… Books will also be available for subscription holders to read at home“, said the director of the Central City Library named after L. Kropyvnytskyi (Mykolaiv) Inga Horzhevska.
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Such authors as Alexander McCall Smith, Edmund de Waal, and Elif Shafak became ambassadors of the Initiative in Great Britain. In Ukraine – Sofia Andruhovych, Andriy Bondar, Svitlana Taratorina, as well as director and actor Akhtem Seitablaev. All Ukrainian ambassadors participated in the first sorting and packing of books for libraries.
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| Photo: Mykhailo Palinchak |
“Half a year of work by Ukrainian PEN, Book Aid International, International PEN, English PEN, dozens of publishing houses – and thousands of books in English are on their way from London to Kyiv, dozens of writers personally pack, send and take away book parcels for hundreds of libraries across the country. This is a story about individual efforts and decisions that add up to a great cause“, commented the president of Ukrainian PEN, philosopher and writer Volodymyr Yermolenko.
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| Photo: Mykhailo Palinchak |
As I said before UP. Culture director of the Ukrainian Book Institute Oleksandra Koval, there are more than 1,000 libraries in the de-occupied or front-line territories of the east and south of Ukraine, the collections of which have been significantly affected by hostilities. For them, it is necessary to purchase at least 3 thousand copies of different books. Libraries in the rear, in regions with a large number of displaced persons, also need updating. These are almost 4 thousand libraries – for them you need to buy at least 1000 copies.
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