Kyiv’s first children’s charity fair opened on May 31 at Ukraine House. Organized by the Publishers’ Forum, the fair is not sponsored either by the state or the private sector. According to the forum’s president Oleksandr Koval, the fair is aimed at helping children get books to keep them reading and wondering about themselves and the outside world.
The fair has been thrilling children with a large number of Ukrainian books and Ukrainian translations of foreign publications, children’s periodicals, audio and video products, and toys. The “A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA” publishing house held an exhibit of unique pictures and illustrations from favorite books.
“It’s great that this fair has books that can help my journalist colleagues,” said well-known journalist Roman Chaika. “I saw one of them, about 30 or 40 years old, checking out Harry Potter. Firstly, Viktor Morozov (the book’s translator — Author) is teaching him the official language. Secondly, this helps us, adults, better understand the world of children and how to speak correctly.”
The fair’s first day also launched Bookmania, a long-standing nationwide campaign to popularize reading. The aim of the fair is not only to sell books but also collect books for children’s and rural libraries. According to the president of the Publishers’ Forum, in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv oblast there are more than 50 orphanages and over 900 rural libraries in dire need of our assistance. So every Ukrainian can support this event: book lovers can simply buy books at the fair or bring some from their own home libraries and donate them to the needy.
At the same time, experts from Ukraine’s Book of Records will be on hand to see if Ukrainians manage to set a book charity record. It is gratifying to note that The Day’s example has proved so “contagious:” when a library stocked with 50,000 books burned down in spring 2002 in the village of Chernukhy in Poltava oblast, the birthplace of Hryhoriy Skovoroda, The Day and the well-known journalist Olha Herasymiuk launched the “Give a Book!” campaign to collect books for the Chernukhy library. Over a period of several months many Ukrainian publishers, libraries, institutes, and cultural and commercial organizations responded to the call to help the library, as well as scores of sympathetic individuals — both well- known personalities and ordinary citizens.
According to Mykola Zhulynsky, chairman of the National Council for Culture and Spirituality under the President of Ukraine, the current fair also does credit to Ukrainian publishers, who are thinking about books for children in today’s difficult conditions. It is also an occasion to reflect on what should be done to turn the question of Ukrainian books into a top priority for the Ukrainian state and help them reach the provinces. The Day’s experience has shown that many people are eager to help children develop a taste for literature.
The fair’s visitors will hear talks by well-known authors and artists on how to write, illustrate, and read books. There will also be book contests, thought-provoking play programs, autograph sessions with singer Ani Lorak, gymnast Liliya Podkopayeva, and writer Andriy Kurkov, and many other events. The fair ends on June 3 (inclusively).
