Not a single book was purchased for children’s libraries in Mykolaiv using public funds in 2025

In 2025, not a single book was purchased for children’s libraries in Mykolaiv using budget funds; photo: Central City Library for Children

In 2025, children’s libraries in Mykolaiv did not receive a single book purchased using funds from the city budget. All new additions to the collections were donated.

This is evidenced by the response from Anatolii Petrov, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv, to an information request from NikVesti regarding the replenishment of the city’s library collections.

According to the information provided, in 2025 the Shura Kober and Vitia Khomenko Central City Children’s Library, together with its branches, received 1,348 books. All of these were received free of charge, whilst not a single copy was purchased using the local budget.

By way of comparison, in 2024, children’s library collections were replenished with 2,756 books, of which 763 were purchased using the city budget, whilst a further 1,993 were received free of charge. In 2023, the libraries received 1,825 copies, of which 186 were purchased using budget funds.

Branch Library №4 received the most books in 2025 — 421 copies. The Shura Kober and Vitia Khomenko Central City Children’s Library received 413 books. The remaining books were distributed amongst the city’s other branch libraries. Branches 3, 7 and 10 received the fewest books — five each.

The books for children’s libraries in 2025 were provided by the Ukrainian Book Institute, the «Ranok» publishing house, the All-Ukrainian public organisation «Ukrainian Library Association» as part of the «Books Without Borders» project, the «Nova Ukraine» Charitable Foundation, the National Library for Children, regional libraries, the local history museum, as well as readers and authors.

In total, between 2021 and 2025, children’s libraries in Mykolaiv received 9,097 books. Of these, 1,740 were purchased using local budget funds, whilst 7,357 were received free of charge.

It was previously reported that over 200 libraries in the Mykolaiv region lack barrier-free access.