On September 1st in 1980, a new (and since then the only) building of the Library of Science and Technology was opened on the campus of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on the Square of Knowledge. This day has become significant not only for the engineers, but also for the entire scientific and student community: access to library treasures has been free for everyone from the day of its foundation to the present time.
“The idea that libraries are not needed in the age of the Internet is a myth. The Internet contains the sea of information in which it is easy to get lost. Libraries are the guides in this sea. It is the library that collects, verifies and provides reliable and up-to-date information, which is useful for everyone who applies for it,” – said Oksana Brui, the Director of the Library.
The library building (and the whole campus) owes it’s unique design to the legendary rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Hryhoriy Ivanovych Denysenko, whose honorary name was given to the library in 2018. It was on his initiative and according to an individual project with his direct participation that a building, which is not only an informational and scientific center, but also an architectural monument and a fashionable art object, was erected on the Square of Knowledge. This was facilitated by the huge Foucault pendulum, which became the symbol of the library, and by the author’s paintings on the walls. The project was embodied by the Chief Architect of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Volodymyr Lykhovodov with a huge team – they joke that “half of engineers” participated in the construction.
Today, on September 1st, in honor of the anniversary the staff of H. I. Denysenko Library of Science and Technology invites everyone to the Zoom-meeting – to remember the brightest moments in the life of the establishment and to discuss plans for the future. Details are on the official website of the library.
Some interesting facts about the Library at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
- The Library at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is the largest university library of science and technology in the country. It’s fund is estimated in more than 2.6 million copies.
- The central object of the library – the Foucault pendulum – is the largest in Ukraine. It’s suspension is 22 meters long!
- Four floors of the library are decorated with 800 portraits of famous Ukrainians. The gallery was created as a part of the project “Ukrainians in the World”.
- Over the last ten years, mobile shelving systems, which provide much more efficient use of space, have become popular in Ukraine. They have existed in the Library at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute since it’s establishment in 1980.
- Previously, the library storages had a monorail with an automated cart which transported books between the shelves. Unfortunately, the cart has outlived its usefulness.
- Fourteen and a half thousand copies of publications – that’s how much the library lost during the German occupation. The library was not evacuated, so part of it was looted and destroyed.