U.S. EMBASSY AWARDS 16 GRANTS TO UKRAINIAN LIBRARIES TO OPEN INTERNET CENTERS

The U.S. Embassy today awarded grants to 16 Ukrainian public libraries to open free public Internet centers as part of the Library Electronic Access Project (LEAP.) The goal of this program is to provide Ukrainian citizens with free and open access to information.

At the opening of a seminar for the winners of the grant competition, U.S. Ambassador John Herbst congratulated the directors of the winning libraries. Ambassador Herbst said, “Ukrainian libraries can play an important role in the strengthening of democracy in Ukraine. In this important election year, the need for access to information is particularly acute. These Internet centers will ensure that more Ukrainian citizens have free access to information available on the Internet.”

Since 2001, the U.S. government has devoted more than $1.4 million to improving Ukrainian citizens' access to information by opening free Internet centers in public libraries. Libraries receive grants of up to $24,000 for computer equipment, software, two years of Internet access and training. These 16 grants bring the total number of Ukrainian libraries that have received LEAP grants to 76.

Below is a list of the 16 libraries that won grants in the LEAP IV competition.

1. Bila Tserkva Central City Library, Kyiv oblast
2. Horodok Central Regional Library, Khmelnytsky oblast
3. Horokhivs’ka Central Regional Library, Volyn’ oblast
4. Dzhankoy Central Regional Library Director, Crimea
5. Dykan’ka Central Library, Poltava oblast
6. Dolyna Centralized Library System, Ivano-Frankivs’k oblast
7. Zhydachiv Regional Centralized Library System, Lviv oblast
8. Zdolbuniv Central Regional Library Director, Rivne oblast
9. Kalanchak Centralized Library System, Kherson oblast
10. Nizhyn Central City Library, Chernihiv oblast
11. Okhtyrka Central City Library, Sumy oblast
12. Pryluky Central City Library, Chernihiv oblast
13. Terebovlia Central Regional Library, Ternopil’ oblast
14. Kherson Centralized Library System
15. Lutsk Centralized Library System, Volyn’
16. Druzhkivka Central City Library, Donetsk oblast