“I have always been interested in history.” These words by Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna from the foreword to Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 brought people who would also be able to tell the same about themselves to the Lokachi raion library. Despite her advanced age, Antonina Moroz was one of the first to show up at the discussion of the newspaper’s latest publications. As the librarians said, she never misses such events. The woman likes listening to intelligent people, and she was even more interested, since books about Ukraine were to be discussed.
Director of the raion library Liudmyla Maryniak notes an increased interest of Lokachi dwellers in the topic that has always been popular in our region, in Ukraine as a state. But the Revolution of Dignity, as well as the war in the east for territorial independence of this state, made people realize their national identity even more acutely. That is why the presence of the nationwide newspaper Den and its involvement in satisfying this increased interest can be felt everywhere in the library. Den’s articles are on each of the numerous stands, dedicated to various topics. And one of the stands contains the published treasures the library received as a present from the newspaper not long ago: issues of the glossy Route No. 1 and publications from Den’s Library: Ukraine Incognita, (the first one, which was reprinted numerous times), Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25, James Mace’s Your Dead Chose Me, recently reprinted Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha, and the photo album People of the Maidan. The library dreams of the rest of the books from Den’s Library, since their value is well-known, and the Lokachi librarians will also repeat these words many times.
“Recently we held a ‘heroic hour’ at the library, which was dedicated to the Maidan anniversary. I studied this album from cover to cover then: there is so much interesting material in it, because when you still remember the events, you perceive such publication with a special feeling. You look and understand that this album is a book not for one day and, hopefully, not for one generation. During the heroic hour, to which we invited Maidan participants who live in Lokachi, attendees had tears in their eyes. People were weeping when they passed around helmets, which were worn on Maidan, the photo album was leafed through with sorrow, but also with hope that Maidan was not in vain,” said reading room librarian Hanna Marchak sharing her impressions.
PUBLICATIONS FROM DEN’S LIBRARY CAUSED A LIVELY INTEREST AMONG VILLAGE LIBRARIANS. IT IS PLEASANT THAT THANKS TO DEN’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, A LOT OF LIBRARIES IN LOKACHI RAION WILL BE ABLE TO OFFER BOOKS PUBLISHED BY OUR NEWSPAPER
Den invited not only readers, but village librarians to the presentation and discussion of Den’s books, because they are the ones people often turn to when seeking advice on what to read. It was pleasant to see that a large number of village libraries in Lokachi raion can offer books published by our newspaper. When Route No. 1 dedicated to Volyn was published, one of its authors, journalist Valentyna Shtynko, gave a copy to the raion library.
“We looked at it, read it many times, starting from the foreword by our Larysa [Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna comes from Lokachi. – Author], and asked for a few more copies of Route. With great joy we received two large packages from the editorial office: besides the Route, dedicated to other regions of Ukraine and various topics, we received new book novelties by Den. We could share some of them with village libraries, because unfortunately, culture in our country still lacks funding, but people in villages want to read quality books,” Maryniak says.
Not only Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 and Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha were discussed at this presentation, but also the fact that books published by Den are the foundation required to form conscious Ukrainians. Head of Lokachi Raion Council Vasyl Demydiuk and priest of the local church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate Rev. Ihor Druzhynets also took part in the discussion. Shtynko came from Lutsk. And head expert of information activity at the Lokachi Raion State Administration Yurii Rebruk presented his mini analysis of several articles from Ukraine Incognita.
Valentyna SHTYNKO, writer, journalist, honorary citizen of Lokachi:
“Philosopher and thinker Desiderius Erasmus once said the following: ‘My homeland is where my library is.’ Den states that a library is not a storehouse containing items published by the humankind, but a center of statehood. It is a live source of thought, and the Lokachi library always does a lot to keep it clear, burst with knowledge of history, culture, and intellectual progress. I am incredibly glad and proud, and I envy Larysa Ivshyna in a good way, because she once had a truly ingenious idea: to create the newspaper’s library besides the newspaper itself. The book starts living its own life, acquiring more and more new readers. I have read the majority of books published by Den. I cannot say it was easy reading, because one must think hard and draw conclusions. But all of us should accumulate creative energy and read this literature. With every book we read we become different, we wake up different the next morning. Just read a third of the published books and your intellectual horizons will expand very far, you will be proud of your history. And we lack this pride so much!”
Vasyl DEMYDIUK, head of Lokachi Raion Council:
“I would like to start with that pitiful budget we are expecting with fear. For the first time in many years, we have managed to at least provide workers of the raion and village libraries with salaries in the passing year. But I do not know whether we will be able not to come back to old bad times in the upcoming year, when the culture sector employees worked for a quarter of their salaries. This is the reality, which we cannot influence on our level. As a person who has a degree in history, I would like all libraries, even village ones, to have books published by newspaper Den.”
