There is a famous saying that we are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. This was the situation Ukrainian librarians faced when, at the height of the economic crisis, they were asked to secure government funds for ongoing internet connections and to prepare a safe and secure environment for computers to be eligible to participate in the Bibliomist program. Many public libraries in Ukraine don’t receive regular funds for basic upkeep of their premises, let alone a complete renovation. However, Ukrainian librarians were so intent on providing their patrons with modern internet-based services and sources of information that they made the seemingly impossible happen.
When Bibliomist [8] announced its contest for equipping libraries, librarians and local governments started working together to transform their libraries into inviting and comfortable spaces that offer services and information the community needs and wants. In total, the first 25 library systems selected to participate in the Bibliomist program were able to attract more than $100,000 in government and private sector investment to prepare library premises and provide furniture and additional equipment to compliment the equipment supplied by the program.
One example of such support is in Sumy where two city council members used their discretionary funds to purchase computers for two additional branches upon hearing that the Sumy Central Library and 5 of its branches would be equipped with 15 computers through the Bibliomist program. However, the council members did not realize the importance of libraries overnight. The director of the Sumy Central Library System, Lyudmyla Stadnychenko, has long been working on positioning libraries not as another institution in need of government funding, but as a partner to the local government that can offer a lot in return.
Libraries in Sumy are regularly used as polling stations and some even offer space for local officials to meet with constituents. Libraries also prepare background information for officials on issues scheduled to be discussed at council sessions. The library and city council websites are interlinked and provide comprehensive information on all segments of local living. This symbiotic relationship between the libraries and the local government has provided officials with an inside look of what libraries can do, as well as a clear understanding of the needs of the libraries. The two city council members have supported the libraries before, but when the system applied for the Bibliomist contest and won, they saw an additional opportunity and invested their discretionary funds accordingly.
Local government support for libraries throughout Ukraine has been arriving in all shapes and sizes. In Dnipropetrovsk, the news that the local library will be equipped by Bibliomist prompted city authorities to allocate UAH 9,400 (over $1,100) for desks and furniture for the new computers and an additional UAH 10,600 (over $1,300) for three additional computers. The local government in Zaporizhzhya went even further: the city department of culture provided an estimated UAH 128, 000 (around $16,000) for a state-of-the-art security system and new furniture for all winning libraries in the city. Moreover, the central library received an additional computer from the government as the Bibliomist-provided equipment went exclusively to its branches. City council members made additional donations, too: one promised the library a laptop contingent on them winning the Bibliomist contest; and another donated funds for purchasing additional equipment at the librarians’ discretion.
These examples are not limited to large, urban areas. Small Ukrainian villages, some with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, are also benefitting from this upsurge in interest in libraries. When Viktor Bychenko the Head of Yarke, a small village in the Autonomous Republic in Crimea, learned that the local library is interested in applying for the Bibliomist contest, he secured enough funds to renovate the library, purchase new furniture, install an air conditioning system and purchase an additional computer and printer. The library in Mala Burinka, a village of 900 inhabitants in Cherkassy oblast, received UAH 40,000 ($5,000) for a complete renovation so they could join the Bibliomist program. The Head of the Mala Burimka village council, Valeriy Herasymenko, had the following advice for his fellow village heads: “We all know where to get the funds, and now we know how to spend it wisely as well.”
Local businesses also recognized the potential of libraries to facilitate local community development and growth and joined the effort to equip libraries in their communities. Artemsil, a private company in Artemivsk, Donetsk oblast donated UAH 36,000 ($4,500) to the local library. In Zhytomyr, the internet provider ‘Orion City’ signed a five-year deal to provide free internet access to four local libraries that won Bibliomist’s contest. Similarly, the internet provider ‘Mediana’ pledged to connect four libraries in Melitopol, Zaporizhya to the internet for free. A number of companies also provided bars for the windows of the libraries and metal doors free of charge to help libraries meet security requirements to participate in the contest.
According to some librarians, the catalyst for this unprecedented investment in libraries has been their partnership with Bibliomist. “Filling out the application form was like writing science fiction, but once we won the contest, funds started pouring in. This would not have happened had we not won the contest,” says Tetyana Anatoliyivna Dronova, Director of the Nova Odesa library in Mykolaiv.