KyivBookFest: Kyiv Book Festival to raise funds for military university libraries

From September 5 to 8, Kyiv will once again play host to the KyivBookFest, a prominent book forum now in its second year. Organized with the support of Media Center Ukraine, the festival will feature both a large-scale book exhibition and sale, as well as an industry-focused forum. A key objective of this year’s event is to raise funds aimed at restocking the libraries of five military universities across the country.

This goal was highlighted during a recent discussion at the Media Center Ukraine.

Anna Bondarchuk, the executive director of the NGO Reformation, shared that last year’s KyivBookFest successfully raised approximately 800,000 hryvnias, which were utilized to reprint essential charters and manuals for the Armed Forces.

This year, the festival organizers have set an even higher target. They aim to collect around 1.5 million hryvnias to provide these military educational institutions with contemporary literature, carefully curated by experts. The beneficiaries will include the Kyiv Institute of the National Guard of Ukraine, the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Odesa Military Institute, the Zhytomyr Military Institute, and the National Defense University of Ukraine.

The range of books to be donated is extensive, covering topics from military leadership and psychology to combat techniques and strategy.

Vladyslav Kyrychenko, the owner of Nash Format publishing house and one of the festival’s key organizers, emphasized that this year’s event will operate under the slogan “Books are Weapons.”

“One of the defining aspects of our forum is its strong military focus. We have a significant presence of military writers and books about the war. There’s an entire section called ‘Military Book,’ and we’ve organized numerous events centered on the presentation of books by and about the military,” Kyrychenko explained.

To date, over 130 publishers have confirmed their participation, and the festival’s program boasts more than 230 events. These will include lectures, literary meetings, presentations, autograph sessions, poetry readings, a children’s program, and musical performances.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news