Of course, much to our current astonishment just as librarians saved knowledge from destruction at the hands of the Nazis and communists (see my earlier post https://themeanderer.ca/the-holocaust-and-books/) , the same thing is happening in Ukraine. As Richard Ovenden said,

“Librarians in Ukraine are facing major challenges. They are trying to do their main jobs while under attack. The psychological impact is huge: but still they carry on, protecting their collections, innovating with new services, determined to save knowledge and support their communities. What little we can do to help, we must.”

Libraries and archives are again being attacked in the Ukraine  by the forces of darkness. Too many of us thought days like this were behind us. Barbarism is never behind us. It can also spring up again.

At the time of Richard Ovenden’s  CBC lecture in 2023, 47 public libraries and archives in Ukraine had been destroyed. Ovenden said a further 158 are badly damaged and 276 had received what he called, “some damage.”

To repeat, barbarism is never defeated. We must constantly be on guard.