Ukrainian libraries are increasingly using the internet to offer a wider range of services to users. These services include free public access to the internet, but also go a step farther to provide targeted assistance to meet some of their communities’ most pressing needs.
Labor Migration Resources
Two libraries, the Dobrohostiv village library in Lviv and Tysmenytsia library in Ivano-Frankivs, recently launched projects to help address local labor migration issues. Both communities have a large number of residents working abroad, most illegally. The library in Dobrohostiv estimates that as many as 10 percent of its local residents currently work abroad. Community members would benefit from being able to communicate with their family members abroad as well as having access to legal advice on issues related to migrant labor. To meet these needs, the libraries are building their patrons’ online communication skills through training on tools such as Skype and email. They are also directing migrant laborers and their families to relevant online resources related to labor migration.
Community Centers
The Bar Raion Library in Vinnytsia oblast also recognized a need to help residents design and locate funding for community development programs. The library established the Project Management Center on its premises and has already begun training patrons on different aspects of project management, fundraising, networking and IT skills and resources. Library Director Lubov Kyrylyuk opened the center to “enrich citizens’ knowledge and experience” and is happy to see early successes among the Center’s first “students.” For example, Head of the Zhuravlivka Village Council, Vasyl’ Dolynnyi, went on to apply for and win an oblast contest for community development projects after receiving training. The Bar library staff, in particular librarian Nataliya Zakharchenko, helped Dolynnyi define the general outline of the project, target groups, budget, and sustainability plan. The project will create an administrative social center for the village of Zhuravlivka and neighboring communities where residents can access services ranging from access to online information to medical treatment resources. The village council will provide the space for the center, while the oblast government and private businesses will provide the funding.
Senior Citizens, Prisoners, and Drug Users
Several libraries are now providing targeted services to marginalized groups of patrons. The city libraries in Shostka and Dniprodzerzhynsk are launching a project to engage senior citizens in lifelong learning, helping them master modern technologies and take an active role in the community. In Oleksandrivka (Kirovohrad oblast), where there is a nearby prison, librarians are working to help former convicts reintegrate into society and to promote tolerance toward this group of patrons. The Voznesensk central raion library in Mykolayiv oblast will use online tools to provide consultations and information to families of drug users and carry out activities aimed at the prevention of drug addiction in the community.
These libraries are all Bibliomist [8] partners and are among the first libraries to be supported through the program’s Community Participation Contest, which helps libraries integrate new technologies into a broad range of library services to address community needs. Participating libraries partner with local community organizations to design and implement the new services, for which the libraries can receive up to $2,500. A new round of the Community Participation Contest is launched quarterly. Libraries with ideas for innovative new services should continue to check www.bibliomist.org [9] for the latest announcements on partnership opportunities.