In 2025, libraries for adults in Mykolaiv received over 3,000 new books, most of them free of charge

Opening of a bookshop in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti archive

In 2025, adult libraries in Mykolaiv added 3,189 books to their collections. Over 80 per cent of these were received free of charge, whilst 596 copies were purchased using funds from the city budget.

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

In 2025, 217,800 hryvnias were allocated from the city budget for the purchase of books. This is more than last year, when nearly 199,000 hryvnias were allocated for this purpose. In 2022, no funds were allocated from the city budget at all for the purchase of books for adult libraries.

Donations remain the main source of new additions to library collections. In 2025, these amounted to 2,593 books, representing over 80 per cent of all new publications added to the libraries. By way of comparison, in 2024 libraries received 2,581 books free of charge, which is almost the same as this year. In 2023, however, this figure was significantly higher — 4,998 books.

The M. L. Kropyvnytskyi Central City Library received the most new books last year — 1,026 copies.

Among the branches, the largest number of books went to:

• Branch Library №16 — 301 books;
• Branch Library №18 — 165 books;
• Branch Library №2 — 150 books;
• Branch Library №5 — 127 books;
• Branch Library №21 — 126 books.

Branch Library №6 received the fewest new books — 25 copies. Meanwhile, Branch Libraries Nos. 7 and 17 did not receive a single book this year.

In total, between 2021 and 2025, libraries for adults received 77,450 books. Of these, 2,936 were purchased using funds from the city budget, 16,415 books were received free of charge, and a further 57,943 books were transferred in 2023 following the closure of the Mykolaiv Scientific and Pedagogical Library. It is precisely because of this transfer that the statistics for 2023 differ significantly from those of other years.

It should be noted that in 2025, Mykolaiv’s children’s libraries did not receive a single book purchased using funds from the city budget. All new additions to the collections were received free of charge.

By way of comparison, in 2024, children’s libraries received 2,756 new books, of which 763 were purchased using funds from 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.