The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine, in frames of a programme Bibliomost, is planning to ensure equipment of more than 1,000 libraries with free internet access by 2013, deputy culture and tourism minister Olha Bench has told a news conference.
“The Culture and Tourism Ministry jointly with the Ukrainian Library Association and authors of the Global Libraries project are contributing to the Bibliomost programme, which plans to provide computers and internet access to more than one thousand libraries,” she noted.
Acting director of the programme Matei Novak says that about 120 libraries in he country have been already outfit with computers with access to the internet.
In his words, Microsoft provided software to the computers for free, in all worth USD 4 million.
He noted, in all regions of the country they opened educating centres in which library staff is helped to figure out the new equipment.
They plan to train more than 1,000 librarians.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers in 2009 worked out a concept of a programme for creation of single information-library system for 2011 and until 2016.
The programme concept foresees provision of public libraries with access to the internet, their complementary equipment with computer hardware, software, and telecommunication equipment.
