Solutions from Ukraine: Costa Rica becomes 50th country to join Ukrainian Bookshelf project

Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukraine's President, has announced that Costa Rica has been chosen as the special country for the Ukrainian Bookshelf project. Visitors can now explore Ukrainian literature at the National Library in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

Olena Zelenska, the wife of the President of Ukraine, reported this on Telegram.

What is the problem?

Ukrainian Bookshelf is a project implemented under the patronage of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Book Institute, and the Kyiv School of Economics. On May 15, the Ukrainian Bookshelf was opened in the University of Donja Gorica library in Montenegro's capital.

The president's wife noted that by sending books abroad, Ukrainians literally save them from physical destruction in wartime conditions.

"We want people to know about Ukraine from primary sources, about what we are like, what we think about, what we grew up with, what our roots are. I think this is the basis for understanding other countries and people," Zelenska emphasizes.

What is the solution?

"Costa Rica became the jubilee country of the project. From now on, Ukrainian, Spanish, and English literature can be safely requested at the National Library of the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. This is also the first bookshelf in Central America. Thank you to the Ukrainian Embassy, ​​the library, and the Ukrainian community of the country, particularly the Association for the Promotion of Culture of Ukraine and Costa Rica and the Association of Ukrainians in Costa Rica, which joined the initiative," Olena Zelenska said.

How does it work?

According to her, during the four years of this initiative, Ukrainian books united the globe, appearing in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas libraries.

"More than 50,000 books on 200 shelves provide knowledge about us to our friends and communication with the homeland – Ukrainians who have found themselves far from their native home. And they are also waging their own (and our common) liberation struggle against the Russian invaders and their fakes, carrying the truth about Ukraine, our culture, history," Olena Zelenska noted.

The First Lady reminded that this month, Ukrainian bookshelves also received:

• Slovakia – Regional Library of the city of Žilina;
• Poland – the central library of the Raczyn city of Poznań;
• Montenegro – the library of the University of Donja Gorica;
• Bulgaria – The Odesa National Scientific Library donated more than 70 books to the National Library of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the city of Sofia.

For reference:

On the occasion of International Children's Day, the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland replenished the Ukrainian-language shelves of the Bern library with children's fiction.

As previously reported, Ukrainian bookshelves have opened in the United States, South Korea, and Romania.

As a reminder, over 800,000 books have already been handed over in Ukraine and abroad as part of the campaign "For Ukrainian children – a Ukrainian book" campaign.

In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine [Ukraine's government – ed.] has allocated UAH 10.7 billion for culture and media in the budget for 2024, UAH 466 million of which has been earmarked to finance the Ukrainian Book Institute in 2024.