The National Museum of Literature of Ukraine opened to visitors on July 2, 1986, and became a space where Ukrainian literature is presented as a continuous historical process — from the era of Kyivan Rus to the present day.
The museum’s collection includes more than 97,000 items, of which over 5,000 are displayed in the permanent exhibition. Among them are unique early printed books of the 17th–18th centuries, including the Apostol by Ivan Fedorov and the manuscript Ladder, lifetime editions of 19th-century classics, manuscripts by Lesya Ukrainka and Olha Kobylianska, as well as writers’ personal belongings, photographs, autographs, and works of art.
A special place in the museum is devoted to 20th-century literature — from modernism and the “Executed Renaissance” to the Sixtiers movement, the dissident movement, and the works of the Ukrainian diaspora.
In addition to its permanent exhibition, the museum maintains an active cultural life: it hosts exhibitions, literary meetings, festivals, lectures, and volunteer initiatives.
Thus, the museum functions not only as a repository of memory but as a living space for dialogue, where the Ukrainian word continues to be heard today, and literary works are not only exhibits but also part of contemporary reading culture.