Library Network Recovery in Wartime Ukraine: Book Rescue, Digital Transition, and Community Resilience

Ukraine's public library network — one of the densest in Eastern Europe, with over 16,000 public libraries across the country serving communities from major cities to small rural villages as of 2021 — suffered significant damage in the course of the Russian invasion. Libraries serve functions that extend beyond book lending: they are community information hubs, literacy and education centres, gathering spaces for vulnerable populations, and repositories of local historical memory in the form of regional newspaper archives, genealogical records, and local history collections that exist nowhere else. The loss of a village library can eliminate the only public information infrastructure serving that community. Russia's attacks on libraries have been documented as part of a broader pattern of cultural heritage targeting, raising questions in international humanitarian law about the extent to which library damage reflects deliberate policy rather than incidental war damage.

Scale of Library Damage

Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and the State Library of Ukraine conducted ongoing assessments of library network damage throughout the war. Key findings from 2022–2024 assessments included: more than 250 library buildings damaged or destroyed by military action; at least 50 libraries in Kharkiv Oblast alone (the library-densest oblast in Ukraine relative to population) suffering building damage; the complete destruction of Mariupol's city library network (Mariupol had 17 public libraries and one children's library, all located in a city that was approximately 90% physically destroyed); significant library damage in Kherson Oblast following both Russian occupation (with reports of deliberate book destruction targeting Ukrainian-language literature) and the subsequent liberation-phase fighting; and smaller-scale damage distributed across all frontline and near-frontline oblasts. The Ministry's damage registry served as the basis for reconstruction cost estimation submitted to international reconstruction financers.

Library Damage by Oblast Category

Emergency Book Collection Rescue Programs

The National Library of Ukraine (Національна бібліотека України імені В. І. Вернадського) — the country's principal national library — coordinated an emergency collection rescue program in 2022 that focused on relocating the most valuable and irreplaceable holdings from libraries at risk to secure storage in western Ukrainian facilities. Key collections prioritised for rescue included: rare book and manuscript collections (incunabula, Cossack-era documents, 18th-19th century Ukrainian periodicals); local history and newspaper archives that exist in only single copies; ethnographic and photographic collections; and musical scores and theatrical archives connected to performing arts institutions. Western Ukrainian libraries and cultural institutions — in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and others — provided emergency storage space. IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) coordinated international library profession assistance, facilitating emergency storage donations and connecting Ukrainian libraries with European partner institutions.

Russian Targeting of Ukrainian-Language Collections

Reports from liberated areas, particularly Kherson Oblast and areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, described a disturbing pattern of deliberate removal or destruction of Ukrainian-language books and replacement with Russian texts — a cultural policy implemented by Russian occupation authorities consistent with Russia's broader stated goal of eliminating Ukrainian national identity. Library workers and community members who remained through occupation periods reported that Russian administrators systematically removed books in the Ukrainian language from library shelves, in some cases burning or destroying them and in other cases transporting them to Russia. Ukrainian-language children's books, Ukrainian history and literature (particularly works classified as "Ukrainian nationalist" under Soviet-era vocabulary), and any material relating to Ukrainian national identity were specifically targeted. These acts, documented through testimony and photographic evidence, were cited in international human rights reports as examples of cultural genocide.

Digital Library Development as Wartime Strategy

The war accelerated Ukraine's digital library transition — a process that had been gradually advancing under pre-war modernisation programs. Key digital initiatives included: expansion of the Ukrlit.org and Libraria digital book platforms providing free online access to Ukrainian literature; digitisation of newspaper archives in cooperation with European digital libraries (Europeana); the Presidential Library's expanded online collections; and municipal library digital catalog systems enabling reading card holders to access ebooks and digital resources. For IDPs who evacuated without access to their home library's physical collections, digital library access provided a substitute for community library services. Ukrainian libraries also used digital channels for community programming — online storytelling for children, book clubs via video platforms, and educational programs for school-aged IDPs supplementing formal school programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a library a protected cultural property under international law?

Libraries — particularly those containing significant cultural heritage collections — are protected under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its protocols, as well as under the Customary International Humanitarian Law rules (Rule 38) prohibiting attacks on cultural property with significant cultural heritage value. National libraries and major academic libraries are specifically covered as cultural property. The level of protection attaches to demonstrated cultural significance and the absence of military use of the facility. Where military use occurs, protection may be suspended, but Russia's documented actions of deliberately destroying or removing library collections from facilities not used for military purposes constitute violations of cultural property protection obligations.

What is the IFLA's role in library emergency response?

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) — the global professional body for the library and information services sector — has an established program called the "Blue Shield for Libraries" framework and a broader emergency preparedness and response program. For Ukraine, IFLA activated emergency solidarity mechanisms connecting Ukrainian libraries with international partners willing to provide: emergency materials storage (books, documents, digitisation equipment); donated replacement books and materials; digitisation assistance for collections requiring digital backup; financial support through emergency grants; and professional guidance on collection rescue and disaster recovery procedures. IFLA's network of national library associations — including major European national associations from Germany, France, the UK, and the Netherlands — channelled significant in-kind and financial assistance to Ukrainian library institutions.

Was the Kharkiv Korolenko Library significantly damaged?

The Kharkiv State Scientific Library named after V. G. Korolenko — one of the largest libraries in Ukraine with a collection exceeding 5 million items including significant rare book and manuscript holdings — suffered blast damage from multiple missile and drone strikes in the vicinity of Kharkiv's central districts during 2022–2024. Window damage, roof damage, and structural impacts to the building were documented. The library's staff implemented emergency collection protection measures — sandbag barriers around the most valuable storage areas, collection transfer to basement storage, and humidity control monitoring under emergency conditions. The library maintained partial public access services throughout the war, recognising its community information function during a period of civilian need, while also serving as a temporary IDP information and services point for newly arrived displaced Kharkiv-area residents.

How many books were destroyed or looted in occupied territories?

Precise figures are impossible to compile due to lack of access for independent monitoring in occupied territories. Ukraine's Ministry of Culture estimated that hundreds of thousands of library items were removed, destroyed, or otherwise lost in occupied territories, based on testimony from residents and library workers who passed through or fled occupation. Russian occupation authorities claimed that removed materials were "inappropriate" content requiring replacement with correctly "educational" materials — a claim that Ukrainian authorities and international human rights organisations characterised as pretextual language for cultural erasure. The true scale of cognitive cultural loss — including locally unique archives, newspaper collections, and community history records that existed only in single copies at community libraries — may never be fully quantified.

What role do libraries play for IDPs in receiving communities?

Public libraries in western Ukraine and other receiving communities took on significantly expanded roles for newly arrived IDPs. Libraries provided: free internet and computer access for IDPs navigating digital government services (єОселя housing compensation, pension transfer, social benefit applications); quiet study space for children whose school schedules were disrupted; community events addressing IDP social integration; access to Ukrainian-language literature for IDPs who valued cultural connection during displacement; and in some cases, direct social services referral in cooperation with municipal IDP support services. UNHCR worked with Ukrainian libraries on IDP information service programs, recognising libraries as trusted community neutral spaces accessible to all population groups. Libraries' traditional roles as free, non-judgmental public spaces made them natural first-contact points for IDPs arriving in unfamiliar communities.

Sources

1. Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Cultural damage registry: libraries sector. Kyiv, 2022–2024.
2. IFLA. Ukraine Library Emergency Response Programme reports. The Hague: International Federation of Library Associations, 2022–2024.
3. National Library of Ukraine V. I. Vernadsky. Emergency collection rescue program documentation. Kyiv, 2022–2023.
4. Europeana. Ukraine digital heritage programme. The Hague: Europeana Foundation, 2022–2024.
5. Human Rights Watch. Ukraine: Russian destruction of cultural property. New York: HRW, 2022–2023.