Without normal salaries and in emergency premises: in the communities of Mykolaiv region, there is a staff shortage in libraries and clubs

The building of the Korabelnyi Palace of Culture, photo: Serhii Ovcharyshyn, NikVesti

There is a catastrophic shortage of workers in cultural institutions in the Mykolaiv region, and some rural libraries are dilapidated and unheated.

This was discussed at the meeting of the Mykolaiv Regional Council Commission on Science and Education, Innovation, Youth, Family and Sports, Culture and Spirituality.

Olena Buberenko, the head of the Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religion of the Mykolaiv Oblast, said that the main reasons for the outflow of personnel are the dangerous situation due to the war and low wages.

«Today, the salary of any cultural worker, except for our theater institutions, is the minimum wage. That is, a person receives 6,200 on hand, if there are no additional payments, if the person just arrives and there is no service. This is not enough for life,» she said.

Also, in rural areas, most of the personnel are hired on a part-time basis and they do not even receive the minimum wage. Olena Buberenko added that out of 337 library employees, 237 work part-time. Out of 1,310 village clubs, 617 employees work part-time.

«That is, 50-60% work part-time. If the salary is 6200 hryvnias net. Well, you understand what the situation is,» says the head of the culture department.

Also, conditions in cultural institutions remain problematic in the villages. According to the results of 2023, out of 445 libraries, 40,105 are emergency, without heating, 7 without lighting, 262 do not have computer equipment.

Olena Buberenko noted that after the decentralization reform, community heads do not want to develop this area, because it does not have state subvention.

«In our communities, culture is financed according to the residual principle,» she adds.

Members of the commission recommended community leaders in Mykolaiv Oblast to pay attention to the state of cultural institutions.

We will remind that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 200 cultural objects were damaged as a result of shelling in the Mykolaiv region. About 40% of them were recovered.