Eltham and Ukrainian libraries team up in celebration of literature and culture
By Charlotte Edwards
Two libraries, one in South-east London and one in Ukraine, have teamed up in a celebration of all things culture and literature.
The twinned libraries, Eltham Library in Archery Road, and Central Library in Kyiv, have come together as part of a new project run by the charity Libraries Connected.
The move is part of a national initiative which has paired more than 20 libraries in England and Ukraine to share information and skills, develop joint initiatives and celebrate language, literature and culture.
In the last couple of years, Eltham has become home to a large community of Ukrainian refugees, displaced by their country’s ongoing conflict with Russia.
Libraries in the borough of Greenwich are run by charitable social enterprise GLL under the ‘Better’ brand.
Miriam Storey, GLL’s sector libraries manager in the borough, has been the driving force behind the project.
She said: “A lot of Ukrainians already use the library, so it makes perfect sense.
“We started buying Ukrainian book stock a while back and produced a document in Ukrainian, explaining how the library works.”
GLL also collaborated with Greenwich based, Ukrainian-run organisation UK Arts Hub, holding an exhibition of paintings and drawings produced by young people back home in underground bunkers during the fighting.
Stanislav, a Ukrainian resident in Eltham and member of the UK Arts Hub, said: “I shared the news with my colleagues in the Ukrainian Hub and we are absolutely thrilled to be involved.
“Surely it will send a huge positive and inspiring message to the Ukrainian community and enrich our cultural links between our countries.
“Me and my parents became regular visitors to the library, and we are very pleased that we can read books in Ukrainian.
“It is also very important for children to keep their language skills.”
More than 1,000 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the full-scale Russian engagement, including hundreds of libraries, which have had to rapidly adapt to wartime conditions.
Through the twinning scheme, Libraries Connected aims to offer moral and practical support to Ukrainian library staff working in incredibly challenging conditions.
Pictured top: Eltham Library has been twinned with Central Library in Kyiv (Picture: GLL)