There are about 45,000 libraries in Ukraine that employ more than 80,000 librarians. Currently, the activities of libraries as social institutions in Ukraine are under the influences of democracy, and are more open to public scrutiny, as are many other organizations in the country. Different social, economic and political changes have occurred in Ukraine just at a time when technological progress has brought unheard-of opportunities for the development of librarianship. But economic instability in the country has caused a situation where the government cannot provide appropriate funding to libraries, even for library materials and for librarians' salaries. In 1998 the sphere of culture received only 42% of funding allocated in the state budget. Library collections often become outdated. The government announced a special Library Collection program to publish books for libraries, but last year no books were published under this program. It is very difficult to implement new technologies in libraries because of the lack of funding. In 1997, the government issued a special order that listed services libraries could provide for money, and in 1998 it allowed libraries to use money, which they had earned, for their needs.

Recently, one could notice a very painful process: the number of libraries in the country, especially public libraries in rural regions and professional union libraries, was steadily decreasing. To help librarians and the public to correct this situation, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers in May 1997 issued Regulation “On Minimal Social Norms of Providing the Population with Public Libraries”.

The number of library users has grown. People come to libraries because they need new knowledge in different fields. Creation of new educational establishments and changes in the educational system generated new needs in users. On the other hand, many families now cannot afford to subscribe to a newspaper or a magazine, or to buy books. Under these circumstances, Ukrainian librarians are creatively finding new and unusual ways of surviving and even developing their activity. Rather quickly, librarians understood that they had to change themselves and their libraries in order to improve library services and society’s attitude to libraries.

New social priorities of Ukraine as an independent state, its desire to use information in further developing the country caused a change in the status of two leading Ukrainian libraries, which became national libraries: the National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine (in 1994) and the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (in 1996). These libraries are the largest in Ukraine. Their collections comprise 17 million items, and to a great extent reflect the intellectual, cultural, economic and scientific development of the people of Ukraine and other nations. New types of libraries have appeared in Ukraine over the last five years, e.g., various ethnic libraries, family libraries, church libraries, NGO libraries. The National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" Library is an example of re-opening one of the oldest academic libraries not only in Ukraine but also in Eastern Europe. The Central Library of Ukraine for Teachers was created. The NGO “Research and Development Center for Philanthropy” opened library on Philanthropy, Civil Society and the Third Sector in 1998.

Education and training of librarians are carried out by two universities of culture in Kyiv and Kharkiv and by Rivne Pedagogical University (specialists), as well as by special colleges of culture (bachelors). The curriculum and programs of training are now under revision to bring them up to the appropriate international level. The experience of foreign countries is duly studied and implemented in Ukraine.

Librarians have begun to seek help and funding for their libraries from foundations and the private sector. The latter is still rather underdeveloped in Ukraine and is not yet ready to help libraries very much. The IRF and the OSI-Budapest Network Library Program provide the most notable financial support to libraries and librarians.

There was a perceived need to create and bring to life new library policies in a democratic Ukraine, based on free access to ideas, library materials and services. Intellectual freedom issues are the basis of contemporary library and information policies in Ukraine. Now the library community understands that it is up to librarians to establish, promote and implement new library policies. Today we see tendencies toward cooperation in the creation of new library and information policies in Ukraine. The Ministry of Culture and Arts (under which the public libraries operate and which must oversee the development of libraries in the country) and newly born non-governmental organizations are interacting in improving library and information policies and working toward positive legislation. The Ukrainian Library Association is the leading professional NGO in this process.

The Law on Libraries and Librarianship was passed in Ukraine in 1995; the Law on Depository Copy is under discussion now. Experts from the Ministry of Culture and Arts, the Ukrainian Library Association, and various libraries gathered in November 1998 at Verkhovna Rada (the Parliament) of Ukraine for hearings on library laws and policies that were adopted in 1995. It was mentioned that the laws need to better reflect intellectual freedom, unrestricted information flow, and other new realities.

Jointly with other organizations, the Ministry of Culture and Arts created a National Program on Preservation of Library and Archival Collections and set up the Information and Computerization Committee dealing with the issues of library automation in Ukraine. The Committee worked out the “National Program on Library Automation” and submitted it to the Agency for Information and Computerization under the Presidential Administration.

The first library associations were founded in Ukraine at the beginning of this century. New times have brought to life new professional library organizations. Librarians recognized that they could benefit from joining in a professional association to provide mutual encouragement and growth, to exchange information, and to promote libraries in the society at large. In 1995, an independent non-governmental professional organization was created – the Ukrainian Library Association. Now it has 30 divisions in major regions of Ukraine and about six hundred active individual members.

The Association strives to achieve and maintain high standards in providing library and information services and educating librarians. The Ukrainian Library Association promotes and implements the principles of intellectual freedom, which is the basis for librarianship in a democratic Ukraine. The Code of Professional Ethics for Librarians was adopted. The Code lists professional values and underlines the vital role the librarians play in supporting democracy, the spirit of openness, and the cultural and economic development of the nation. Preservation of library materials is considered one of the strategic goals of the Ukrainian Library Association. The Association works on strengthening and developing the library profession, library and information science education, library legislation. It is active in training of librarians, organizing seminars and conferences, book publishing, informing librarians, international cooperation.