Books Without Borders
How did it start?
The idea first took shape in a bomb shelter during our visit to Ukraine for the UNITED24 Summit. While in Stryi, an air raid siren forced us to take cover in the nearest shelter — which happened to be the school where our co-founder, Anna, once studied. Inside, the space was packed with hundreds of children and adults. As we waited, one of the English teachers overheard our team speaking in English. She approached us and quietly shared that the school was in urgent need of books for the children — and asked, with little hope, whether we might be able to bring some from the UK.
Without hesitation, our co-founder Derek replied, “Of course we’ll do it.”
And from that simple promise, the idea grew — thanks to the incredible support and belief of the Penguin Random House team, who came alongside us to help make it real.
Our results:
Ukraine
In autumn 2023, our team successfully completed a meaningful aid mission to Ukraine — delivering 500 English-language books for children and young people, generously donated by Penguin Random House.
The donated books went to:
Ukrainian schools in Stryi, Brody and Sumy.
Youth centres in Lutsk , Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, Chernihiv and Cherkasy.
WIKI library and Public libraries in Lviv.
England
The collaboration with the schools, public libraries and youth centres resulted in the donation of approximately 300 Ukrainian-language books, which we then delivered to Ukrainian children in the UK.
We have already delivered some of these books to Milton Keynes Central Library and a recently opened Ukrainian Saturday School in Bedford. And it was our best reward to see the joy on the faces of the children who received the books.
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Anna Merchuk (co-founder) posting the Penguin Random House books all over Ukraine
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Anna and her former teachers during the book exchange in Stryi,Ukraine
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School in Stryi, Ukraine
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Brand new books from Penguin Random House
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Mary, volunteer, with Penguin Random House books
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Ukrainian Saturday School in Bedford
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Children from Ukrainian Saturday School in Bedford receiving the books
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Penguin Random House books
Initiatives
The project began to gain momentum when a 15-year-old student Kimberly at St Paul’s school approached us with an initiative to volunteer for Nadiya.
She was excited to hear from us about the book exchange, as she is a real book fan, and together we came up with the idea of involving her school in collecting books for Ukrainian children and youth.
We believed that it would be incredibly important to involve Ukrainian students from her school in collecting English books for their schools in Ukraine and to creat a twinning of schools. It's fascinating how life takes unexpected turns and from just one conversation in a bomb shelter, the concept of a transformative project began to take shape.
What does the future of the initiative look like?
Building on the success of our first delivery, we’re committed to continuing this exchange — bringing English books to schools and youth centres in Ukraine, and returning with Ukrainian books for displaced communities in the UK.
We’ve seen first-hand how English books open doors to learning, opportunity, and growth. As English becomes essential for many jobs in Ukraine, schools are calling out for more resources — and we’re determined to help meet that need.
Many Ukrainian children displaced by the war are now integrating into British society — some speak English better than Ukrainian. That’s why it’s vital to give them access to books in their own language: to preserve cultural identity, pass on traditions, and resist the cultural erasure Russia is trying to impose.
How could you support us?
Donation
Donation of English / Ukrainian-language books or financial donations to cover the costs involved.
Implemetion
Implementing an initiative to collect English or Ukrainian-language books in your community and deliver them to the destination.
Collaboration
Putting us in contact with organisations that could assist us in collecting books or providing support in other capacities.