The media reported on possible imminent upheavals in the field of capital libraries. The abolition of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow is expected following the arrest of its director, Natalia Sharina. The woman accused of extremism is being held under house arrest.
Reform
Journalists learned about the future closure of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow according to the lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who defends the interests of the director of the institution. It is planned to transfer the library premises from the capital’s department of culture to the department of nat. politics, tourism and interregional relations. It is known that this department sent an appeal to the Department of Culture containing a request for a decision on the fate of book collections and the employment of employees of the reformed library.
According to the information received, it is planned to create a multimedia center for East Slavic peoples in the premises of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow. The head of the Department of National Policy, Vladimir Chernikov, confirmed that it was really about reforming the library, but not about its liquidation. As an official told reporters, one of the proposals actively discussed at the city hall of the capital is the creation of a multimedia center on the basis of the abolished library.
Scandal
The library of Ukrainian literature in Moscow (address: 61 Trifonovskaya St., building 1) was at the epicenter of the scandal in October 2015. After the searches in the library, its director Natalya Sharina was detained, who was charged with inciting hostility and hatred, as well as of humiliating human dignity committed with the use of official position.
The investigative version contained the statement that between 2011 and 2015. Sharina among readers of the library distributed works of Ukrainian public figure of extremism Dmitry Korchinsky, banned for use in the Russian Federation. By decision of the court, the director was placed under house arrest.
The statement by the department of Ukrainian studies, media and cultural programs of the Vitaliy Krikunenko institution is known that the banned literature was planted: in particular, the books did not contain a library press.
History
The library of Ukrainian literature in Moscow was founded in December 1989 on the basis of the Central Ukrainian Library, which existed in the capital from 1918 to 1938. In 1949, part of the fund was transferred to the library of Lviv University. In 1994, about 1, 200 books were returned. In 2000, the Moscow Government adopted a decree on the creation of an independent state institution, a library of Ukrainian literature in the capital. In May 2006, premises in a reconstructed building in the Maryina Roshcha area, not far from the Rizhskaya metro station (the current address of the institution) were solemnly transferred. In 2016, the Moscow Government decided to close the library soon and transfer its funds to the Center for Slavic Cultures (former Foreign Literature Library named after Rudomino).
Nuances
A criminal case at the end of October 2015 was initiated at the request of Dmitry Zakharov, one of the capital’s deputies. The initiator of the investigative actions, according to the director of the library Shorina, is her former subordinate S. Sokurov (writer). House arrest for a woman lasted for one year and 7 months. In the summer of 2017, the Meshchansky District Court sentenced her to 4 years probation. The stipulated trial period is 4 years.
