Yulia Holubenko, head of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko Library of the Central Library in Kyiv, shared these photos in a Zoom meeting of her family in the shelter constructed in the library basement. (Zoom)

Voices from Ukraine: Ukrainian Librarians In The Struggle Against Russian Invasion

April 15, 2022

In this bilingual English/Ukrainian event hosted on April 6, 2022, librarians from various libraries in Ukraine spoke about the current situation of libraries and the information infrastructure of Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues.

• Article about the event: ‘Islands of hope’: Ukrainian libraries respond to Russian invasion in surprising and heartbreaking ways — here’s how

Organized by the Coalition of Slavic Librarians for Peace (CSLP): Olha Aleksic (Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University), Ksenya Kiebuzinski (University of Toronto), Liladhar R. Pendse (University of California-Berkeley) and George Andrew Spencer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Organizer/ Introductions

Dr. Liladhar R. Pendse, Librarian for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley Library

Moderator

Olha Aleksic, Petro Jacyk Bibliographer for Ukrainian Collections, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Speakers

Eleven Ukrainian librarians have found time in this tragic, dynamic war situation in their country, and not all might be able to participate depending on their local situation.

Oksana Brui
President of Ukrainian Library Association, Director of Scientific and Technical Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Kyiv.

Svitlana Moiseeva
Vice President of Ukrainian Library Association, Director of Luhansk Regional Scientific Universal Library, Starobilsk.

Natalia Petrenko
Director of Kharkiv State ScienceLibrary named after V.G. Korolenko, Kharkiv.

Oleh Serbin
Board Member and Chair of University Library Section of Ukrainian Library Association, Director of Maksymovych Scientific Library of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv.

Anton Hanul
Leading Specialist of Marketing Departmentof Maksymovych Scientific Library of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv.

Yulia Holubenko
Head of Oleksandr Dovzhenko Library of Solomyansky District of Central Library, Kyiv.

Kateryna Skomarovska
Head of American Studio of Vinnytsia Regional Universal Scientific Library, Vinnytsia.

Irina Biriukova
General Director of Odessa National Scientific Library, Odessa.

Larysa Luhova
Vice President of Ukrainian Library Association, Director of Lviv Regional Library for Children, Lviv.

Lyubov Savaryn
Head of Advertising and Project Activities Department of Lviv Regional Library for Children, Lviv.

Yaroslava Soshynska
Executive Director of Ukrainian Library Association, Kyiv.

Concluding Remarks

Dr. Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Slavic Resources Coordinator, Head, Petro Jacyk Central & East European Resource Centre