Activities of Moscow Libraries to Support SVO Participants and Their Families

The accession of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions to the Russian Federation in 2022, following referendums, and the implementation of the Special Military Operation (SVO) marked the beginning of a new stage in modern Russian history. From the first days of the SVO, public libraries across the country launched social, cultural, and humanitarian projects aimed at supporting those on the front lines and in the rear. They actively participated in fostering civic responsibility and patriotism in the younger generation, providing cultural rehabilitation, and offering bibliotherapeutic support to SVO participants. Libraries in the South-Eastern Administrative District (SEAD) of Moscow also joined this work. Institutions of the Association of Cultural and Leisure Centers of the SEAD of Moscow provide informational, social, and humanitarian support to SVO participants, veterans, and their families. They collect humanitarian aid, sew and knit warm clothing for soldiers, and act as volunteer gathering, training, and coordination centers. The article provides information on participation in the “Postcard for a Soldier” and “War. Victory. Memory” campaigns, as well as the “Military Echo of the South-Eastern Administrative District” project, which features exhibitions on patriotic themes. One example of a patriotic center in SEAD of Moscow is Library No. 134 (Kapotnya District), which is the initiator of the “Kapotnya to the Front” volunteer community. The library regularly participates in collecting aid for victims in the Kursk and Belgorod Regions. The book collection for cultural institutions in the new regions of the Russian Federation is also noted: since the beginning of the SVO, more than 21,300 copies have been donated, including to hospitals and mobile libraries in the combat zone.