Our Story

Our story begins more than 50 years ago, in 1970s Odessa and Kharkiv. Our founder Shaye Kirman’s parents, Galina and Igor Kirman, were born in Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine and came to the U.S. as Jewish refugees at age 8 in the late 1970s.

During Soviet times, there was little emphasis on Ukrainian culture even in Ukraine (known as “the Ukraine”) itself, and especially in the Russian-speaking cities. Shaye’s parents grew up speaking Russian and knew little of Ukrainian culture as kids. Likewise, most Americans thought of Ukraine as “one of the republics” and not really as an independent country, with a distinct history and culture. And even once Ukraine became politically prominent for Americans and hot topic of conversation — in 2014 following the “Maidan” revolution and in 2022 after the full Russian invasion — it was mostly seen as a war zone.

Shaye set out to learn more about this part of his heritage and the conflict now raging. He sought to understand Ukraine away from the politics of war — its traditions, its history, its culture. As a lifelong reader, he decided to explore through books. He also decided to share with others, and, together with other volunteers, set up the Free Ukraine Library project. Beginning with stores in his neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and with a view to expand to the full Tri-State area, he started converting shoeboxes into “libraries” filled with books about Ukraine or written by Ukrainian authors. These books would be available for free to anyone, with the idea being that they would either return them back to the “library” or pass them on to their friends.

. With your help, Free Ukraine Library can continue spreading knowledge about Ukrainian through the joy of reading.