Ukraine is preparing a state policy to promote reading - starting with a national study
Kyiv • UNN
The Ministry of Culture will study the motivation and barriers of Ukrainians in reading to form state policy. The results will be published in the spring of 2026.
Ukraine is preparing a state policy to promote reading. To this end, the Ministry of Culture is launching a national study to find out how Ukrainians read, the ministry reported, writes UNN.
Details
The first stage of the national reading study in Ukraine, launched by the Ministry of Culture, has a main question: "how to attract new readers?" The main goal is to understand which tools for promoting reading work in Ukraine: which of them have proven most effective, and which need to be introduced. At the same time, the study will help identify what prevents Ukrainians from reading actively and regularly, and what motivates them to return to reading in adulthood.
"The culture of reading determines the depth of society's thinking and its resilience to external influences. Today, books compete for attention with a large number of formats. That is why we are launching this study. It will provide a clear understanding of what motivates people to read and what barriers they experience. Thanks to this, we will be able to attract new readers and strengthen book culture at the state level," emphasized Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy - Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhnaya.
The goal of the study is to create an informational basis for engaging wider circles of Ukrainians in reading practices. The project takes into account the therapeutic and community-building functions of reading: in view of the Culture Development Strategy until 2030, reading as a cultural practice is one of the key methods of strengthening human capital through cultural practices, as well as supporting mental health.
In the first stage, in the spring of 2026, a qualitative study is planned. Sociologists will conduct in-depth interviews with experts in the field of reading and the book market and "new readers" - people who have recently started reading regularly after a break or minimal reading practice. The second stage will be a large quantitative study of readers in Ukraine.
"The study initiated by the Ministry of Culture will take into account the trends that have emerged in connection with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The results of the study will be used in the formation of state policy for the promotion of reading," the report says.
The Ministry of Culture plans to publish the results of the qualitative stage of the study at the end of May 2026 within the framework of the XIV Book Arsenal. The project is financed from extra-budgetary funds, the Ministry of Culture indicated.