The MHP-Community Charitable Foundation has restored a library in the de-occupied village of Rudnytske in Kyiv region. Now the library not only reads books by Ukrainian and world writers, but also hosts book presentations and meetings with famous contemporary authors and autograph sessions, UNN reports.
"Our library has become a comfortable and cozy place to spend time. It has become a place for reading and socializing," says Natalia Vasylenko, head of the branch library in Rudnytske village.
Recently, the library hosted creative meetings with author Serhiy Smagliuk and storyteller Sashko Lirnyk. The day before, they presented their books in the library. In addition, the library recently hosted a creative meeting with Vitaliy Kobzar, a representative of the Kyiv Kobzar Workshop. He introduced the visitors to the kobza and read poems by Vasyl Symonenko from the collection "Prayer", the publishing of which was supported by MHP-Hromada.
In 2022, the village of Rudnytske was occupied by the Russian military. They burned down a local school, shelled a number of other infrastructure facilities, and destroyed and damaged private homes of local residents. The premises of the local club, which housed the library, were also damaged. The library itself had its doors smashed in, and books with Ukrainian symbols were trampled on.
Last year, thanks to benefactors, the club managed to create a creative space for children from Rudnytske. The next step was to restore the library. The library was restored within the framework of the grant competition "Strengthening public participation in early recovery processes in the liberated territories", administered by ISAR "UNITED" with the support of the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Foundation, funded by partner countries in cooperation with the MHP-Community Foundation. The premises were completely renovated (walls, ceiling, floor), new furniture and some books were purchased.