All-Ukrainian Library Day
30/09/26, 12:00
This article was prepared as part of the children’s book donation project
On 30 September, Ukraine marks All-Ukrainian Library Day—a day honouring the preservation of knowledge, culture, and national memory. Ukraine’s reading tradition has deep roots, dating back to the Kyivan state and the establishment of the first libraries in the eleventh century. Printed books remain an important source of knowledge, while a love of reading unites millions of Ukrainians of all ages.
Throughout the war, which began in 2014, and russia’s full-scale invasion launched in 2022, the russian occupying authorities have destroyed Ukrainian bookshops, removed Ukrainian-language books, and closed public and educational libraries in temporarily occupied territories. Missile and drone attacks have also devastated Ukraine’s publishing infrastructure.
In May 2024, a russian missile strike destroyed the Factor-Druk printing house in Kharkiv. In July 2026, a russian attack on Kyiv destroyed a warehouse belonging to the Knyholav publishing house, where almost 250,000 books were lost. On 1 August of the same year, an attack on Kharkiv destroyed the automated logistics centre of RNK-Ranok, our partner in the illustrated children’s book donation project. The fire destroyed approximately eight million books, including hundreds of thousands of school textbooks.
In liberated territories, library spaces are being restored through volunteer initiatives and support from charitable and cultural organisations. School and university libraries continue their educational work, providing access to books even inside shelters during air-raid alerts.
Free book exchanges through street book boxes have become popular in many Ukrainian cities. Passers-by can leave a book they have finished or choose another one to read. Libraries and other book spaces remain vital places of support, historical preservation, and the development of free thought.
Ukrainian books are finding their homes around the world — and here in Japan as well.
In the autumn of 2022, a Ukrainian library opened in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, on the 8th floor of the Himawari Ukrainian Support Center.
The person behind this wonderful initiative is Dariia Murakami — a creative soul and a true lover of printed books, who began collecting Ukrainian books and bringing them together in one place.
The library started with just 60 books donated by EPAM, along with Dariia’s personal collection. Today, it has grown to around 1,000 books. Some of them are especially meaningful — they carry the personal signatures of their authors.
More than just shelves filled with books, this is a place where the Ukrainian language, stories and culture continue to live thousands of kilometers away from Ukraine.
The library is open 365 days a year, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Everyone who wants to read in Ukrainian is welcome!