In Ukraine, only 7% of people visit libraries at least once a year, with just 5% being regular visitors, borrowing books at least once a month.
These figures were shared during a roundtable at Ukrinform on the topic “Strengthening the Position of the Ukrainian Book.”
Oleh Serbin, Director of the National Library of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise, cited insufficient library funding as the primary reason for these low attendance rates. He noted that in the past year, only 1.1% of the required library resources were provided, leading to a shortage of books and resources in libraries. As a result, libraries have been reducing the number of Russian-language books in their collections and increasing the proportion of Ukrainian-language books, which now constitute 51% of the total, compared to a predominantly Russian-language collection in the past.
Halina Hryhorenko, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, emphasized that libraries play a crucial role as community gathering spaces, especially in small villages where they are often the only cultural institution or public space available. She stressed the importance of providing libraries with timely and adequate supplies of books to increase their visitation rates.
As mentioned during the event, the low library attendance in Ukraine contrasts sharply with other research data showing that 38% of Ukrainians regularly read books, which is quite a high figure by global standards.
As reported by Ukrinform, over 2,130 cultural infrastructure sites have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine due to Russia’s full-scale invasion, including 759 libraries.
