Books, Dances, and Belonging: Transforming a Ukrainian Village Library

Yulia Honyshnuk has spent years tending to the library of Haliivka, a small rural village in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. For most people, a village library might suggest quiet shelves, aging volumes, and the occasional solitary reader. For Yulia, it represented something far more urgent: a potential lifeline for a community navigating war, displacement, and isolation. Her vision was to transform that space, to make it a living, breathing hub where children, elderly residents, youth, and internally displaced persons could find not just books, but belonging.

That vision became reality thanks to a seed grant from The Pollination Project.

“This is a wonderful project that gave us the opportunity to turn our aspirations into reality. For our community, this initiative created a chance to strengthen and consolidate our efforts while revitalizing cultural life in a small Ukrainian community.” — Yulia Honyshnuk

With approximately $490 in TPP funding, Yulia and her team made a series of targeted, strategic purchases that reshaped what the library could offer its community. A Samsung Smart TV and a TP-Link router brought connectivity and screen-based programming into a space that had none. Rechargeable LED lamps ensured that activities could continue even during the prolonged power outages that regularly disrupted life in the region. Board games, craft supplies, paper, scissors, and creative tools filled the shelves alongside the books, signaling to every visitor that this was now a place for doing, not just reading. These were modest investments with outsized returns.

Across the grant period, Yulia and her team organized more than 15 events, directly impacting 190 people. A youth leisure club now meets three times a week, creating consistent, reliable programming for young people. A reading club of approximately 8 regular members gathers monthly to discuss new literary works. A cybersecurity and cyberbullying training held in partnership with CrimeaSOS and Right to Protection reached more than 30 students, and over 20 requests from socially vulnerable residents were addressed through accessibility and mental health support activities. The physical transformation of the library had triggered a social one, and the numbers proved it.

None of this came easily. The implementation of the project unfolded against a backdrop of prolonged power outages, unstable heating, interrupted internet access, and an uncertain security situation that required constant flexibility. Planned events were postponed, locations were changed, and formats were adapted again and again.

“These challenges also taught us to be flexible, responsive, and better prepared for unexpected situations while continuing to provide meaningful activities for the community.” — Yulia Honyshnuk

That adaptability, cultivated under pressure, is itself one of the project’s lasting outcomes. The team that emerged from this experience is more capable, more resilient, and more organizationally equipped for whatever comes next.

Philanthropic seed funding works precisely because of moments like this one: a single, focused investment that activates community energy already waiting to be channeled. The Pollination Project’s Daily Grant Program, designed to support grassroots changemakers with small but meaningful grants, found in Yulia a grantee who stretched every dollar into durable social impact.

The library of Haliivka is no longer simply a repository for books. Under Yulia’s leadership and with TPP’s support, it has become a cultural and educational hub, a safe space for youth, a gathering point for the elderly, a welcoming environment for displaced persons, and an anchor of community life in a village that needed exactly that.

“Library services have become more accessible, open, modern, and interactive. Therefore, it is extremely important for us to continue changing the world around us through cultural diversity and active community engagement.” — Yulia Honyshnuk

The work continues. Encouraged by the success of this first phase and supported by an additional $1,000 grant awarded as a result of their demonstrated impact, Yulia and her team are committed to expanding programming, deepening community partnerships, and strengthening the library’s role as a civic institution. The foundation has been laid, the community has responded, and the seeds planted by The Pollination Project are already taking root.

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