We have much to be grateful for at the end of 2024. But after our recent election, the next four years seem downright scary and weird. How Trump got elected again is a great mystery. Yes, the Democrats had big problems, and the country seemed in a grumpy mood and wanted to move on from President Biden. But electing a man President who is an impeached convicted criminal is beyond the pale. Anyone who is best buddies with richest-man-in-world Elon Musk and genocidal killer Vladimir Putin cannot be good.
In 2016, Ellen, Walker and I traveled around Ukraine on our first Global Library Road Trip. I gave lectures at the US Embassy in Kyiv that were sent to all the public libraries in Ukraine. The US State Department put together a traveling exhibit of my American public library work that eventually travelled to many Ukrainian libraries as well. At the time, the country was fighting the Russians in a hot war in the eastern provinces of the Donbas. This followed the Russian seizure of the Crimean Peninsula. We looked at how the heroic Ukrainian libraries were helping the country in this time of crisis. Russia invaded the rest of Ukraine in 2022 and the fighting for the survival of Ukraine has been going on ever since this invasion.
I have stayed in touch with several librarians that we met in Ukraine in 2016. Over the years we have followed the agony of a country senselessly besieged as seen through the eyes of several of Ukraine’s public librarians. A few days ago, I sent a New Years greeting to one of those librarians, Valentyna Pashkova. She responded yesterday and added another message to me today.
Robert Dawson Thank you, dear Robert! Your support is important. This night we had air alert and spent about an hour in our bathroom — the most safe space in our apartment. This morning from 7 am till now we are in the bathroom again: another Russian air strike But we are strong! Happy New Year!
The next day:
Robert Dawson Sure, Robert!
The new year has started today with another Russian drone attack at 7 am. A building not far from my house was damaged by drone debris. Resilience, gratitude to Ukrainian defenders, supporting the army, doing our best to preserve and to continue to develop our cultural heritage, to help each other, — this is our everyday life. And confidence in our victory. Please share also that we are grateful to American people for their support. ALA’s Ukraine Library Relief Fund we use to repair damaged library premises, support librarians who lost their houses, etc. — the list of needs is unfortunately long…”
She is referring to the American Library Association’s Ukraine Library Relief Fund. If you wish to find out more or donate to help Ukrainian libraries, please go to:
https://www.ala.org/aboutala/ukraine-library-relief-fund
As we enter a new year, I feel thankful for the peace we have here at home. I am sure that 2025 will bring new problems, but perhaps new opportunities to help make our troubled world a better place. I know that libraries can be part of that help. The journalist Rachel Maddow once said “Librarians and archivists and teachers are the Fort Knox of memory, history, and truth. We must defend them with everything we’ve got.” I couldn’t agree with her more.
In 2016, as we were leaving the Children’s Library in the front-line city of Dnipro, Ukraine, I photographed this sign outside the entrance. The library was running a bottlecap collection to help returning injured veterans with missing limbs. The translation reads:
“We Collect Bottlecaps
For Protheses
For Warriors”
Library Road Trip 