The H.I. Denisenko Scientific and Technical Library comprises many important departments that provide ongoing, high-quality support for the university’s educational and research activities. Some departments have existed since the university’s inception, while others were established quite recently. Among the latter is the Department of Rare and Valuable Documents. In late fall 2025, it celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Although, to be precise, the project to process the historical part of the library’s collection began as early as 2010. At that time, a single person, Marina Oleksiyivna Miroshnychenko, worked with these documents—she created bibliographic descriptions de visu, studied inscriptions, seals, labels, and other signs of the book’s history, and searched for and collected information about the author and the publication itself.
As early as April 2011, the library opened the doors to its hall of rare and valuable editions, where old prints from the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, lifetime editions of classics of science and technology, unique and rare textbooks, periodicals, works by Ukrainian writers also preserved in the library, as well as many other valuable printed editions. Rare library tables, miraculously preserved and adding a special historical atmosphere, were also moved here. An exhibition of rare books was prepared for last year’s celebration of All-Ukrainian Library Day, which took place in this very hall. It was then that the university community first became acquainted with a small portion of the library’s treasures.
Alongside the scholarly cataloging of literature, the development of the collection, and the restoration of historical collections, efforts to promote them began. Presentations at professional library conferences, the publication of articles in scholarly collections and periodicals, as well as the organization of presentations, lectures, and tours… All of this was and continues to be handled by a small team.
One of the first events organized by the staff of the Rare and Valuable Documents Department was an event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Nobel Prize. Students and faculty from the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology were invited to the event, and since then, not only students but also members of the Junior Academy of Sciences have been visiting the library every year. The Department of Rare and Valuable Documents received letters of appreciation in 2024–2025 from the Kyiv Junior Academy of Sciences for its inspired and dedicated work with its students.
In 2014, the Facebook group “Kyiv Polytechnic's Old Prints” was launched, with the goal of introducing anyone interested to interesting finds in the collection, educational events organized by department staff, our university’s anniversary dates, and more. The group now has over 600 subscribers. It is well-known, widely read, and frequently commented on. In 2024, a separate page with the same name was created. It continues to promote rare and valuable collections and already has over 140 subscribers.
The department’s work was noticed by the library community in a relatively short time, and when a seminar titled “Specifics of Working with Rare and Valuable Publications” was held in October 2014 at the library’s initiative, it was attended by more than 70 librarians from Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine.
The result of active work with rare and valuable publications was the official approval on November 1, 2015, of the unit as a separate department of the library. This is likely the youngest such department among university libraries with rich collections of incunabula and rare publications. Among the libraries of technical universities, only the Lviv and Kharkiv Polytechnics can be mentioned as having technical literature collections of a similar caliber.
As early as 2017, the collection of the history of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was added to the department. The formation of this collection dates back to 1987—it was then that librarians began selecting literature authored by the university’s professors and instructors. For many years, this collection was housed in the KPI Hall of Scholars and included not only scientific works, textbooks, reference books, and dictionaries, but also all publications dedicated to the university. For a long time, this collection was curated by Larisa Leonidovna Gandyukhina. Many remember her as a researcher of the university’s history. Today, the university history collection consists of various collections, which are listed in the library’s electronic catalog. The “Rare Publications” collection is also featured in the catalog.
In 2017, the blog “Early Prints of Kyiv Polytechnic” https://oldbookskpi.blogspot.com/ was launched to preserve all the historical information gathered about the collection’s publications, authors, individual collections, and publications by staff of the Rare and Valuable Documents Department.
Over the past ten years, many interesting educational events have taken place, attracting numerous history enthusiasts to the library—such as “Historical Studies,” “Stories About the Lives of Old Textbooks,” Tea Club meetings, and “Outstanding Figures of Ukrainian and Polish History and Culture”… Interestingly, most of these are available on the YouTube page: “G.I. Denisenko Scientific and Technical Library” https://www.youtube.com/@-ii...3441.
The Department of Rare and Valuable Documents organized roundtable discussions—marking the 150th anniversary of the first KPI librarian, Mykola Fedotovych Bilyashivsky (1867–1926), and “Working with Rare and Valuable Publications at the KPI Scientific and Technical Library” (as part of the “Library Development Strategy” conference). Department staff also participated in an event marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Rector Hryhorii Ivanovych Denysenko (1919–1998). In 2025, to mark the centenary of the outstanding scientist and educator Volodymyr Vasylovych Khilchevsky, an exhibition titled “The Scientific Legacy of Volodymyr Khilchevsky” was organized, where visitors had the opportunity to view the scientist’s scientific works, the textbooks he authored, his patents, and his autobiography “From Soldier to Academician” with the author’s autograph, all of which are housed in the department. A roundtable discussion was also held, jointly organized by the E.O. Paton Institute of Materials Science and Welding, the Department of Laser Engineering and Physical-Technical Technologies, the State Polytechnic Museum, and the Scientific and Technical Library of KPI.
У відділіIn 2019, the website of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Digital Library https://dil.kpi.ua/dlibra went live. This was preceded by painstaking work on mastering the software, creating the website, and populating it with electronic copies of rare publications—primarily documents dedicated to the university. The digital library also features, among other interesting materials, a collection of bookplates preserved on the pages of library publications. This is a vast and valuable body of information that reveals little-known facts, restores the forgotten names of book owners, and helps shed light on the life of the university during various historical periods. Work is currently underway on the electronic publication “The History of Igor Sikorsky KPI in the Prints and Stamps of Library Publications.” This will be the fourth such publication dedicated to the history of the university and its library (the first—"Rare and Valuable Publications of the H.I. Denysenko Scientific and Technical Library of the National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’ — was published in 2023, marking the 125th anniversary of Kyiv Polytechnic: https://www.library.kpi.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/RIDKISNI-ta-TSINN…).
In 2025, two more publications were completed and made available in the electronic archive of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute: “History of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Library Building” https://ela.kpi.ua/items/cbe50639-3e22-432d-84af -55a6a2bdd77a and “Book Bindings of the Collection of Rare and Valuable Documents of the Igor Sikorsky KPI Library” https://ela.kpi.ua/items/a3cb25e0-7825-4acf-ac6b-75e575686d4e .
Another area of library work undertaken by the staff of the Rare and Valuable Documents Department is the restoration of books. For over five years, work has been underway to restore historical documents, a significant portion of which were published at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In addition to book restoration, antique furniture donated to the library several years ago by the family of one of the university’s professors has also been restored. These are rare cabinets that now house the personal library of M.I. Konovalov, the second director of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Later, the idea arose to recreate a corner of a professor’s office from the early 20th century. The entire library joined in on this interesting project—staff members brought in old dishes, photo frames, paintings, and stationery. There was even room for an antique typewriter, and a rare desk lamp was restored… Everyone loved the result of the office’s renovation, and now it is one of the most popular locations for photo and video shoots.
Gradually, thanks to the creation of the professors’ office and numerous discoveries in library books (various documents, letters, photographs, and transportation tickets), the “Preserve the History of KPI” project came into being. Its goal was to create a collection documenting the social life of Igor Sikorsky KPI. After all, many university employees keep papers, postcards, invitations, photographs, and other items at home or in their departments, laboratories, and offices—things that seem no longer relevant, yet no one can bring themselves to throw them away… The project proved viable, and in recent years, the library has received many interesting and valuable materials.
Today, work with rare collections goes beyond traditional preservation. Thanks to exhibitions and guided tours, these book treasures are becoming accessible to the general public. Thus, the department organizes both permanent and temporary exhibitions dedicated to the anniversaries of prominent figures and significant historical events. And the key elements of the tours are not only a review of the landmark books from the collection of rare and valuable documents, but also an introduction to the history of the university and the library.
Thus, the work of the Department of Rare and Valuable Documents, despite all current difficulties, continues.
One could even say that it is a kind of “library within a library,” as the department’s activities encompass absolutely all types of library work: acquisition, collection development, cataloging, research, hosting educational and academic events, organizing book exhibitions and tours, managing social media pages, maintaining and updating the digital library, preparing popular science publications, and restoring paper documents. And it is quite possible that new projects may be launched soon…
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