On the eve of All-Ukrainian Library Day, a regional online forum entitled ‘Library. Hub. Community: the formula for sustainability’ took place. The event, organised by the Donetsk Regional Children’s Library and the NGO ‘Donetsk Regional Branch of the All-Ukrainian Library Association’ with the support of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, brought together library professionals, academics, community leaders and representatives of the authorities.
The forum participants were welcomed by Oleg Serbin, Director-General of the Yaroslav the Wise National Library of Ukraine; Lyudmyla Polikarpova, Deputy Director-General of the National Library of Ukraine for Children; and representatives of the regional state administration’s Department of Culture and Tourism. In their addresses, they outlined the key priorities for the development of the library sector and its role in ensuring the cultural resilience of communities under martial law.
The forum also included a ceremony to honour the institution’s trusted partners and to present awards to the best library teams in the Donetsk region – professionals who, despite hostilities, evacuation and other challenges, continue their professional work, support communities and ensure access to cultural and educational resources.
The plenary session of the forum was devoted to the key areas of transformation in modern libraries. Oksana Bruy, President of the Ukrainian Library Association, presented a vision for the future development of the library sector and new professional guidelines. Tetyana Pylypets, Director of the R. Ivanychuk Lviv Regional Library for Young People, shared approaches to building the resilience of libraries and their ability to respond to new societal challenges.
An important focus of the discussion was the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Donetsk region. Valerii Romanenko, Chair of the Donetsk Regional Organisation of the National Union of Local Historians of Ukraine, emphasised the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships between libraries and local historians. Marina Kucherenko, Chair of the NGO ‘Tvory Dobropillya’, spoke about documenting residents’ memories and preserving remembrance through personal stories, presenting the initiative ‘A City Within Each of Us’.
A separate section of the forum was devoted to the practical experience of libraries in the Donetsk region, both those continuing to operate in close proximity to the combat zone and those that have been relocated. Representatives from libraries in the Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk, Toretsk and Velykonovosilkovsk territorial communities presented their own practices and projects: socio-cultural initiatives, outreach work with residents, the creation of virtual museums of remembrance and the digitisation of cultural heritage.
The practices presented during the forum demonstrated that even amidst evacuation and the challenges of war, libraries in the Donetsk region continue to function as hubs of resilience, bringing communities together, supporting people, preserving cultural memory and creating spaces for interaction.
This is precisely why the formula ‘library. Hub. Community’ is now taking on not only professional but also social significance for the Donetsk region: the library remains a place where memory is preserved, new partnerships are forged and community life continues.