How the US Library of Congress preserves Ukrainian heritage and restores the nationality of Ukrainian authors

To gather a collection of Ukrainian books, preserve them and correct the mistakes made with Ukrainian publications thanks to the efforts of Russian propaganda – this is the goal set by the head of the department of the Library of Congress, which includes Ukrainian literature.

During the Russian war against Ukraine, which many observers consider genocidal, because Russia aims to destroy Ukrainian culture along with its carriers, the Library of Congress purchases and preserves Ukrainian books, and also restores the authenticity of many Ukrainian authors who were tried to be appropriated by the authorities in Moscow.

After all, until recently he was even listed as a “Russian writer” in library catalogs Ivan Frankoa writer from the Autro-Hungarian Ukrainian lands who did not write in Russian, did not live in Russia, and did not write fiction about it.

Ukrainian literature for those who make decisions in the USA

The majestic white neoclassical building of one of the most famous book collections in the world, the Library of Congress, is located in the very heart of Washington – on Capitol Hill, right across from the US Congress.

The library, which is considered the main national library of the USA, collects literature, sound recordings, films, maps, posters, manuscripts, etc. in more than 480 languages ​​of the world – so that legislators, the government and the citizens of the country in general have access to the materials necessary for making decisions in one or another area.

All publications published in the States (according to the law of 1870) are received here, and there is a special budget for the acquisition of the most valuable publications from abroad. Currently, the library has more than 138 million items, and it is the largest in terms of storage space in the world.

It is generally the first federal cultural institution in the United States, dating back to 1800, when it was established by President by John Adams.

The Library’s Ukrainian collection began with the acquisition of a personal library Thomas Jefferson in 1815.

As Bohdan Yasinskyi, a former specialist in the Ukrainian collection, wrote, the oldest book of the Library related to Ukraine was a history of different parts of Ukraine in three parts, written by Count Yan Potocki – Kherson region, Podil and Volhynia: Historie ancienne du gouvernement de Cherson (St. Petersburg, 1804); Historie ancienne du gouvernement de Podolie (1805); and Historie ancienne du gouvernement de Wolhynie (1805).

A copy of the book was presented to Jefferson by the author and sent via Levett Harrisconsul of the United States in St. Petersburg, August 10, 1808.

The library receives new books and magazines directly from Ukraine, for which about 13-15 thousand dollars is allocated every year.

Purchases are carried out by a special American company with a representative office in Kyiv, the current chief expert on the Ukrainian collection tells Voice of America.

“We inform about what we are interested in, and they forward the relevant materials,” he says Yuriy Dobchanskyispecialist in cataloging Ukrainian studies of the Germano-Slavic Department of the US Library of Congress.

The second way to fill the collection is exchange between libraries.

The largest partners of the Library of Congress are the National Library of Ukraine named after Vernadskyi and the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, as well as the parliamentary library (now the National Library named after Yaroslav the Wise).

The war destroys the libraries of Ukraine, but it cannot destroy the culture

It is impossible not to notice the desk at which Yuriy Dobchanskyi works in the library – next to him is a blue and yellow sign with the inscription “Keep calm and love Ukraine”.

This is what he does – he preserves the Ukrainian printed heritage with daily hard work.

“Obviously, the war complicated and interrupted our contacts with several exchange partners, because many libraries are actually destroyed,” says Dobchanskyi.

However, the work continues and books continue to arrive from Ukraine to Washington every year.

“I was surprised that despite the war, our partners continue to send books and especially that the post office is working. Here we have proof – new postage stamps”, – Dobchanskyi shows the well-known Ukrposhta stamps sent from Ukraine with the image of a Russian ship destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The expert also notes the efforts of Ukrainians: despite the fact that Russia has destroyed libraries, archives, museums, hospitals, schools and civilian homes, annual book festivals continue in Kyiv and Lviv, even in conditions of bombing.

“While the documentation of Russian atrocities and war crimes continues, we must also continue to collect and preserve manifestations of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. I hope that after the war, our library will contribute to the reconstruction and restoration of Ukrainian libraries,” says Yurii Dobchanskyi.

“Decolonization” by Ivan Franko

Specialists of the US Library of Congress consider efforts to, as Dobchansky says, “decolonization of Ukrainian writers” whom Russia tried to write into its own treasury, another task.

He says he is currently working on “fixing the bugs” that crept into the library’s catalogs as a result of the deliberate intent of the Russian disinformation machine.

This was done by substituting concepts – Ukrainian authors were deliberately translated into Russian, so that later translations into other languages ​​would be made from it.

Thus, in the description of such books in the Library of Congress it was noted – “translated from Russian” and Ukrainian authors ended up on the Russian shelves of the collection.

Currently, Yurii Dobchansky is correcting such records, giving back to Americans the understanding that, for example, Ivan Franko is a Ukrainian writer:

“Franko did not write in Russian, and he did not write about Russia, he wrote about Galicia, not Russia. And this is not a Russian writer, but a Ukrainian one.”

In addition, Dobchansky edits Ukrainian-language entries in catalogs and replaces old geographical names with their Ukrainian equivalents.

The director of the Germano-Slavic Department of the US Library of Congress notes the importance of such work Khrystya Korytnyk Dulaney.

“The most valuable work Yuriy does for Ukraine is the thematic collection of books published in Ukraine and in the Ukrainian language in order to build a collection here in America for all Americans and for Congress. So that here in America there would be such a collection, so that Americans would know what is happening in Ukraine from the perspective of Ukrainians, and what is written in the Ukrainian language,” says Korytnyk Dulaney.

In addition, a perfect bibliographic description is important, because as the de facto national library of the United States, the Library of Congress serves all branches of government, other libraries of the country, researchers and scientists from around the world.

“People from all over the United States come to the library to find books, either for themselves or for their children. And when they are looking for books in the Ukrainian language, it is very important that they have access to a competent description and see that it is a Ukrainian-language book, not a Russian one,” the director of the department emphasizes.

“My father in America always told me: “Don’t cry, hold on, you are a Cossack!”

Like Yurii Dobchanskyi, Khrystya Korytnyk Dulaini has Ukrainian roots and is proud of the Cossack past of her family.

“When something happened at school, or something unpleasant happened, my father always told us: “Don’t cry, hold on, remember – you are Cossacks, you are strong, you are Cossacks, you will win.” And we grew up with it!” – says the librarian.

Her mother was born in Arkhangelsk, where the Russians exiled her grandfather – Grigory Kozak – for 10 years in political exile: “Grandfather didn’t tell us much about his past, but he always talked about values, about the fact that you have to be strong and you can’t give up. He said that he was offered three times to inform on the neighbors, but he said that even if you shoot me, I will not do it. He always explained to us that we should live our lives honestly.”

After the Second World War, Christi’s parents came first to Australia, and then to the USA, where his father got a job as a scientist after completing his doctorate.

“My parents felt they were Ukrainians, at home in Buffalo, New York, we grew up always surrounded by the Ukrainian language. Every Friday evening, while all our American friends were watching various television shows, we went to the stairs of Plast. On Saturday they went to the Ukrainian school, on Sunday to the Ukrainian church, again they were among the Ukrainian society. And in the summer, they went to Ukrainian children’s camps – stilt houses, sports camps, bandurists’ camp,” Korytnyk tells Dulaney about the typical childhood of Ukrainians in the USA.

In the same environment, the love for Ukrainian books was born.

“In Buffalo, a woman owned a Ukrainian bookstore, and my father took us to her to read. We had access to Ukrainian books, including self-published ones, to Ukrainian culture. I also taught my children to read Ukrainian using those books,” Korytnyk continues. Dulaney.

She says that it was not easy to grow up as a conscious Ukrainian in America, when the American environment did not fully understand what it was about, if it was not even a “separate country on the map.”

“At school, we taught one thing – they say, everything Soviet is Russian,” Korytnyk Dulaney recalls. – But at home we heard something completely different. We grew up with such different messages, hearing about different history.”

It’s like two parallel worlds, adds Yurii Dobchanskyi: “The history we learned in the English-language school did not correspond to what we learned in the Ukrainian school.”

Both Library of Congress specialists have some of the most vivid childhood memories – when the Ukrainian flag was raised in the United States long before Ukraine gained independence. For example, over the New Haven City Hall in 1956, or in the 1960s and 70s during the representation of the enslaved and repressed peoples of the USSR, including Ukrainians.

From a Ukrainian school in the USA to the Library of Congress

Yurii Dobchansky says that he has been working at the Library of Congress since 1975. Under the patronage of the library, he organized a series of programs on Ukrainian issues, and also organized the library at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family. The promotion of Ukrainian culture was not limited to books – in the church he also conducted courses in pysankari.

Currently, Yuriy Dobchanskyi’s work is closely related to reading and describing, cataloging books from a wide variety of fields. Outside of work, he says, he has little time, but the other day he started reading war diaries from Ukraine by an author originally from Donetsk – Olena Styazhkina:

“I bought this book for myself in December at the congress of Slavists, it was published by Harvard University. In general, I bought a whole mountain of books there, as if I had nothing to read,” smiles Dobchansky, pointing to the shelves of Ukrainian books in his office at the US Library of Congress.

It also displays books published in Ukraine over the past two years. Excellent examples of literature, quality printing, excellent paper, modern design, he says.

“We are fascinated by the fact that in Ukraine, even during the war, such wonderful things are produced, of such high quality, beautiful materials! The war damaged Ukraine, but still people try to give out really valuable things,” the librarian admires the resilience of Ukrainians.