Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine VNLU (Національна бібліотека України імені В.І. Вернадського)

History and Founding

The Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (VNLU; Ukrainian: Національна бібліотека України імені В.І. Вернадського) was founded on 2 August 1918 as the National Library of the Ukrainian State under Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi. Three weeks later, a Provisional Committee was established to guide its development, chaired by the mineralogist and scientist Volodymyr Vernadsky, after whom the library was later named. During the German invasion in 1941, the library's collections were evacuated to Ufa, Bashkortostan, and returned to Kyiv in May 1944. The library's current main building, a 27-floor modernist structure in the Demiivka neighborhood of Kyiv, was constructed between 1975 and 1989.

Collections and Holdings

The VNLU is one of the world's largest national libraries, housing over 15 million items. Its collections include books, magazines, newspapers, manuscripts, old printed books, incunabula, maps, sheet music, photographs, and non-traditional media. Holdings span more than ten centuries, with the oldest materials dating to the 11th century. The library holds the world's most complete collection of Slavic writings and the largest collection of archives of Ukrainian scientists and cultural figures. Notable specific holdings include the Peresopnytsia Gospels (1556-1561), one of the most intricate surviving East Slavic manuscripts; the Orsha Gospel, dating to the late 13th century; five first-edition copies of Ivan Kotliarevsky's Eneida, the first work of literature in common Ukrainian; the Collection of Jewish Musical Folklore (1912-1947), inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2005; archive copies of all Ukrainian printed documents from 1917 onward; and the archives of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the collection of the presidents of Ukraine.

Journalism and Media Materials

The VNLU's periodicals collection includes extensive runs of Ukrainian newspapers and journals from the 20th century onward. As a legal deposit library, the VNLU receives two free copies of all publications printed in Ukraine. The library receives 160,000 to 180,000 new documents annually through legal deposit and international exchange programs with over 1,500 institutions in 80 countries.

Access and Usage

The VNLU is open to the public and provides reference, lending, and interlibrary loan services to approximately 370,000 readers annually. It has served as a United Nations depository library since 1964. The library maintains an online catalogue and provides access to select digitized materials through its digital portal. The Institute of Manuscripts within the VNLU preserves over 361 individual personal archival fonds totaling more than 500,000 documentary units.