Librarians cover developments in North America and Ukraine (07/11/99)

Joint Conferences of Ukrainian American Organizations

Librarians cover developments in North America and Ukraine

by Jurij Dobczansky
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

ARLINGTON, Va. - The third annual gathering of the renewed Ukrainian Library Association of America on June 25 was successful in attracting a core group of dedicated members. Although it coincided with the American Library Association's convention in New Orleans, and closely followed by both the Slavic Librarians' Forum and the Ukrainian conference in Urbana, the conference drew participants from St. Paul, Detroit, Boston, Stamford and Greenwich, Conn., Chicago, Ottawa, New York, metropolitan Washington and even a guest from Lviv. Four distinguished speakers provided insights into Ukrainian librarianship in North America and in Ukraine.

Aletta Waterhouse, Ukrainian program coordinator, Congressional Research Service Parliamentary Development Program, outlined key elements of the program of library and information assistance to the Verkhovna Rada. Two of the major problems she cited were the lack of cooperation among the libraries and research centers serving the Rada as they vie for scarce resources, and the pervasive reluctance of Rada administrators. Setbacks notwithstanding, there were a lot of positive accomplishments. Citing the value of personal contacts, Ms. Waterhouse closed by encouraging American librarians to continue working with library institutions in Ukraine.

Describing his presentation of a technical paper on digital scanning at the recent Crimea '99 conference in Ukraine as a humbling experience, Lynn E. Brooks described his Ukrainian colleagues as committed and dedicated. Although they are well-informed about the latest technologies, Ukrainian librarians do not have the financial means to implement them. Mr. Brooks provided vignettes of his recent trip to Ukraine. He received a citation of appreciation from the Verkhovna Rada for his technology assistance during the four years of assistance by the Frost Task Force. Ironically, the citation was presented outside the Rada due to Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko's ban preventing U.S. citizens from entering the Parliament buildings - a reaction to the U.S.-led intervention in the Kosovo crisis.

Areta Halibey, a volunteer librarian at Chicago's Ukrainian National Museum, underscored the vital need to provide public access to the printed and manuscript collections of Ukrainian museums. While visual displays of Ukrainian artifacts in museums are very attractive, she believes they alone are not an effective means of creating informed public opinion and greater understanding. Much memoir literature remains unpublished. Valuable published works remain uncatalogued. Records of community organizations and national level resources, such as the files on the Ukrainian pavilion at the 1933 World's Fair, remain obscured. This will change only as a result of better allocation of our community resources, she underlined.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Onuferko, assistant director for administration, the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute, St. Paul University in Ottawa, provided a valuable service by initiating a well-documented survey of nine Ukrainian theological libraries in the U.S. and Canada. He also noted the important personal archives and special collections that are held in larger academic institutions but were not included in the ongoing survey. The Rev. Onuferko said librarians must recognize and be recognized for their key supportive role in a variety of Ukrainian endeavors such as Ukrainian studies, religious and historical research, political and cultural activities.

Many practical issues were raised in discussions. With the exception of Vera Skop, who was elected vice-president, members of the current board agreed to serve an additional term: Jurij Dobczansky, president; Ms. Halibey, membership secretary; Theodore Caryk, treasurer; and Adriana Pilecky-Dekajlo, member of the board. Svitlana Andrushkiw, Lubow Wolynetz and Halyna Myroniuk will continue to serve on the auditing committee.

The ULAA's main function at this stage of development is effective communication and networking. Revisions of the association's constitution and by-laws are under way and membership has been opened to institutions as well as individuals. The ULAA invites all professional and volunteer librarians as well as authors, reviewers, book dealers, curators, computer specialists, archivists and others to become members. Write to: ULAA, 11509 Orebaugh Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20902; or email: [email protected].

The Rev. John Terlecky and Mrs. Wolynetz of the Ukrainian Cultural Research Center, Diocese of Stamford, have initiated plans for the next ULAA conference to be held next June in Stamford, Conn.

Full texts of the presentations and photographs from the ULAA's conference will be available on the ULAA webpage (http://www.brama.com/ulaa).

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