Ukrainian Library in Moscow hampered by lack of space (09/07/03)

Ukrainian Library in Moscow hampered by lack of space

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to the Ukrainian Weekly

MOSCOW - I am packed in a room approximately 216 square feet in size; countless Ukrainian books wait for their new library premises in Moscow. Their move has been dragged out by bureaucrats who cannot solve repairs problem needed in the new facility. The problems have kept 4.5 tons of other volumes packed in boxes in damp conditions in another building. This is the only library of Ukrainian literature in Russia and it continues to lose readers, its officials said earlier this summer, because operations remain paralyzed.

Librarians said Moscow authorities have supported the Ukrainian Library's creation since the Ukrainian Youth Club of Moscow suggested the idea in 1988, however, efforts to provide an appropriate facility have lagged.

"We have dealt with such things for 15 years and they always respond, 'it's just about to be solved,' Mr. Kononenko stated.

The library's director, Valentyna Sliusarchuk, said some 2,500 readers annually show interest in Ukrainian books and periodicals, but that number has fallen dramatically since the library found itself in a period of transition that has lasted for months.

Facilities became a cornerstone issue as the library's archives grew from several thousand items after its opening in late 1989 to their present 21,000 books and some 29,000 other items, including periodicals, music CDs, records and tapes, as well as video recordings of Ukrainian movies, TV programs and animated films. The library subscribes to 100 Ukrainian newspapers and 150 magazines. Eighty percent of the items are in the Ukrainian language, some 11 percent are in Russian. Other literature is mostly in English and Polish.

At first, the library existed as a Ukrainian department of a Moscow district library. The Ukrainian community has worked for the library's independent status in recent years as its holdings grew, and the issue of adequate space became a priority during bilateral discussions between Ukrainian and Russian officials.

Finally, on December 19, 2000, the Moscow city administration approved the establishment of a "library of Ukrainian literature." Since then workers have moved the books several times to various sites. Finally, in January of this year, Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov ordered that the library be given a space of some 600 square meters in a prestigious area of Moscow.

"We come closer and closer to the Kremlin, but get no benefit," Mr. Kononenko exclaimed ironically.

He said they cannot move into the new building because a landmark shoe repair shop, there since pre-Revolutionary times, cannot be displaced. Authorities must first find new quarters for the historic workshop and then must do costly repairs at the library's newly designated facility. This delays the library's move for an uncertain time period, Mr. Kononenko told The Weekly.

Mr. Kononenko said the largest collection of Ukrainian books - some 250,000 volumes - is located in Moscow's Lenin Library, which collected all newly published Ukrainian literature and periodicals from 1862 up until Ukraine's independence in 1991.

"The collection of contemparary Ukrainian books in Russia is, practically speaking, to be found only here," Mr. Kononenko said, adding that his library also has more than 1,000 rare publications with the oldest one, "Ukrainian Anecdotes" by Pavlo Ilyin, dating back to 1842.

The history of the Ukrainian Library can be traced to the early 1920s, when the Ukrainian Labor Club organized a book collection for public use and made it available to workers at factories in several mobile facilities. The anti-Ukrainian policies of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin eliminated the library in 1937 during a so-called reorganization. The archives were sent to various libraries across Moscow and Ukraine; hundreds of then-banned publications were eliminated.

None of the organizers of the contemporary Ukrainian library knew the story until April 1991, when they received a pack of books from the Scientific Library of Lviv University. Nine of those books had stamps dated 1922 that read "Central Ukrainian Library at the Labor Club in Moscow." Historical research revealed that 6,408 books were sent to Ukraine, including 1,500 items that found their way into the university's collection. The university's library recently returned all the books that it found to Moscow, more than 1,200 in all.

Mr. Kononenko noted that the Ukrainian Library has played an important role in the lives of some 300,000 ethnic Ukrainians who live in Moscow; it is significant also to students, historians, diplomats, politicians and scientists of other backgrounds who are interested in Ukraine by virtue of their fields. According to a book about the library published by its staff in 2002, 25 percent of visitors state they require access to publications for educational purposes.

However, developing further access to Ukrainian literature in Moscow is in question as the library cannot satisfy all its reader's needs. It is currently able to host a maximum of 40 visitors at one time in its reading hall.

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