During the event, residents of Lviv Oblast will be able to join in collecting books for the libraries of the de-occupied Kherson Oblast.
Every year, one of the most important winter book events in Ukraine is the Southern Book and Reading Festival “Book Mykolay”, which takes place in Kherson before the Nicholas Day. This year, the festival will be held on December 16-18 in the Lviv Regional Youth Library named after R. Ivanychuk, anyone willing can bring Ukrainian books there, which will then replenish the libraries of the Kherson region.
“Since the beginning of the active phase of the war, Lviv region has become a refuge for many cultural figures, and we have the honor of hosting the most important cultural events of the Kherson region. So, in the summer, one of the most authoritative and powerful stage forums in Ukraine took place in Lviv – the Melpomene of Tavria International Theater Festival. And now they will hold an important book event – the annual Southern festival of books and reading “Book Nicholas”. We hope that this event will be an impetus for Lviv residents and guests of the city to help the libraries of the Kherson region to collect books that are important to them. After all, a book is not only a source of knowledge, but also a mechanism of communication in the family, between friends, between like-minded people. We sincerely invite you to attend the event!”, – emphasized the director of the department for culture, nationalities and religions of Lviv OVA Iryna Gavryliuk.
According to the director of the Lviv Regional Library for Youth named after R. Ivanychuk Tetyana Pylypets, it is symbolic that the organizers of the festival started preparing it back in the days when Kherson was occupied. Svitlana Dumynska, head of the cultural department of the Kherson City Council, added that despite the fact that the region was liberated, it is dangerous to hold “Book Nicholas” there.
“The festival has been taking place since 2016, and artists from the Lviv region were the first to support us then. It was important for the organizers of the event to determine whether to hold the festival this year, because Kherson is now dangerous, it continues to be shelled. But we will not allow the enemy to take the holiday away from us. The main idea of the event has always been that the best gift for a child is a book, and therefore popularization of Ukrainian literature is an advanced process. Now we are collecting books for Kherson libraries, because the enemy destroys our heritage and destroys cultural assets every day. I am very grateful to Lviv for supporting the initiative!”, Svitlana Dumynska emphasized.
Writers from both Lviv and Kherson regions will take part in the festival. The event will include not only book presentations, conversations with authors, and a book fair, but also workshops on making trench candles, and children will be able to draw pictures that will then be sent to the defenders of Ukraine at the front.
Admission to all festival events is free. The program can be found here