The Ukrainian Cultural Center here in Victoria British Columbia is home to a plethora of Ukrainian resources. They serve as the heart of our community hosting Ukrainian dance lessons through Veselka, Ukrainian Language Classes and especially, through their monthly Ukrainian Suppers that never fail to draw in a crowd. Perhaps less well known about the Center is their library. Located on the second floor of the building, the library boasts an extensive collection of literature, in both Ukrainian and English, that are available to the public. First established in 1970's The Ukrainian Cultural Center Library contains books from all genres ranging from history, to romance, Ukrainian Poetry. They even offer many Ukrainian Language resources for those of us looking to brush up on our Ukrainian. We know what you're thinking, "I didn't know the Ukrainian Cultural Center had a library" and we don't blame you. In recent years, the library has fallen somewhat into disuse but through the dedicated work of the Ukrainian Studies Society the library is due for a major facelift! The Ukrainian Studies Society has been working tirelessly to raise funds for the Library renovation project. This project aims to provide crucial updates to the library to make it a welcoming space for the community including purchasing new shelves, seating and computers, as well as cataloguing the libraries extensive collection of books. That's where we come in. For years the UVic Ukrainian Students' Society has been volunteering to help catalogue all the books in the library, taking the leading the creation of an effective cataloguing system and inputting all the titles into an online database. This year, one of our members Anika Luteijn was hired by the Studies Society to complete the cataloging process, and with her help the work is nearly finished! And she has this to say about her experience so far. " I first heard about this project while I was serving as the secretary for the UVic Ukrainian Student's Society. As a history major, I love learning more not only about Ukrainian history, but also about the history of our own community through the numerous community records and bulletins the library has in its collection. I was very excited to be able to work more closely with the Library project this summer as a Summer Student for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Victoria branch. Through this position, I've been working extensively to register the library collection into our online database so that they can be accessible to our community members in the future. I have had a fun time learning the new software, brushing up on my Ukrainian, and finding out more about what interesting books and other resources the library has to offer. I've also enjoyed discovering the non-literary items the library has to offer. The library boasts a very impressive collection of Ukrainian records which I have the pleasure of digitizing. If you're a fan of Ukrainian music, I highly recommend you come down to the Ukrainian Cultural Center library and take a look! I can’t wait for the library to open to the community, and for everyone to take advantage of the great resources there!" We are very proud of the work our members have put in to seeing the library project, but we still have a long way to go before the library can finally be opened to the public. If you're a lover of literature and want to help support this project please reach out to [email protected] to learn how you can support the project. Your donations will go a long way to helping us complete the necessary renovations to the library to make it a welcoming community space for all of our members to enjoy!
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August 2021
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