Bibliomist – Global Libraries Ukraine

Program Overview

Program Overview

• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Bibliomist – Global Libraries Ukraine Program Information Sheet

• Biblionet - Global Libraries Romania

 

Bibliomist Newsletter
November 2009

Past Newsletter Issues

Program Partners

The Ukrainian Library Association (ULA)
The Ukrainian Library Association was founded in 1995, and has members in nearly all of Ukraine’s regions. The ULA has taken the lead in representing Ukrainian librarians’ interests on a national level, conducting training in new areas, publishing professional development materials, and advocating for changes in national library law.

Libraries in Ukraine
There are currently nearly 18,000 public libraries in Ukraine serving a population of more than 46 million, though fewer than 10% of libraries currently have public access computers or Internet.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation--Global Libraries
The foundation’s Global Libraries initiative is working to open the world of knowledge, information, and opportunity to many more people. Part of the Global Development Program, Global Libraries works with select countries that demonstrate a need and a readiness to help public libraries provide free access to computers and the Internet, and training on how to make full use of these tools. The initiative is helping transform public libraries into vital resources that can help improve the lives of millions of people.

 

Bibliomist is a program that aims to help Ukrainian libraries better serve their communities through a country-wide system of public internet access in libraries. Made possible with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a partnership between IREX, the Ukrainian Library Association (ULA), national and local governments, and regional libraries, Bibliomist will help foster the development of a modern public library system throughout Ukraine, as a step towards improving the socio-economic conditions of its citizens.

This program builds on a one-year planning grant from the Gates Foundation which funded research and helped plan for a public technology access program in Ukraine.

Project Activities

The Bibliomist program will support initiatives in four key areas:

Equipping libraries

• Establish a network of library Public Access Computer (PAC) facilities. Bibliomist will support libraries that prioritize public access to information and demonstrate a willingness to share the costs of providing new public computing and Internet facilities. By equipping more than 1,000 libraries across Ukraine with new technology, Bibliomist will facilitate free access to information for millions of Ukrainians.

Training librarians

• Provide library service training for participating librarians. Bibliomist partners will design training materials and create training facilities to address new services and foster innovation in the library system. Training will help librarians become actively engaged in their communities and update the image of libraries as places to access information.

• Establish an IT training infrastructure for Ukrainian librarians. Training centers at central libraries in each region will offer courses in technology skills that help librarians provide better computer and Internet guidance to library users.

Building the Capacity of the Library Association

• Partner with the Ukrainian Library Association (ULA). Bibliomist will strengthen the ULA, helping the organization build sustainable administrative structures that can continue supporting modern libraries and provide useful services to librarians throughout the country into the future.
  
  
• Assist Ukrainian librarians and their association in developing and organizing locally-relevant content that serves all library users. IREX and its partners have identified specific informational needs within Ukrainian communities in the areas of healthcare, economic and rural development, and education and culture that are not currently being addressed. Bibliomist will bring together stakeholders in government and local institutions to organize on-line content that meets these previously unmet needs of citizens.

Fostering Government Support

• Engage with government to adapt policies. To match the investment of new resources into libraries, Bibliomist partners will work to promote the increased relevance and importance of libraries to today’s Ukrainian society and the need for a commitment of resources to match libraries’ new role.
  

Contact

For more information about Bibliomist - Global Libraries Ukraine, please email gl@irex.org