03/04/2022
The president of the Ukrainian Library Association reached out to the world's library community after the Russian invasion began in February.
In the letter, Oksana Brui calls libraries a "strategic weapon" of this war.
Below is an English translation of the message.
The Appeal of the Presidency of the All-Ukrainian Non-Governmental Organization Ukrainian Library Association to the library community of Ukraine of February 23, 2022
Dear library community!
Together with you we are at the forefront of the fight with fakes, disinformation, and cyber threats!
Libraries are educational spaces where everyone can get new knowledge and skills. Every day librarians teach and help thousands of people to master life-skills of digital world and have a safe cyberspace both their own and of their nearest and dearest. Every day librarians work for people, communities and society to differentiate between true information and falsehood and combat media and psychological manipulations.
Libraries are places of safety and freedom, where everyone in need gets free access to information, internet, psychological support, assistance in solving life challenges.
Libraries are power places where people find themselves. Librarians in everyday communication do everything possible to instill a love to book, mother tongue and Ukraine.
Libraries are strategic weapon of our country in the hybrid war, which has been waged by Russian Federation.
The importance of libraries in meeting challenges of a single person, community, and society in Ukraine has become obvious during the last eight years of Russian aggression.
Today, when we are facing the threat of a full-scale war with Russia, we all of us, librarians, realize our importance and our responsibility!
Let’s support each other! We know that together we overcome everything!
Let’s support our friends and colleagues from Luhansk and Donetsk Regions! Let’s have faith in and support Ukrainian Armed Forces! Staying calm! Having love to our readers, libraries and Ukraine!
Doing there where we are everything we must!
Glory to Ukraine!
From the Presidency of the All-Ukrainian Non-Governmental Organization Ukrainian Library Association Sincerely, Oksana Brui, The President of the All-Ukrainian Non-Governmental Organization Ukrainian Library Association, Director of the Scientific and Technical Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
As provided by the School Library Journal
