A state-of-the-art mobile station ARK 1 has arrived in Odesa, equipped with modern technology for cleaning and restoring books and documents. This initiative is made possible through the support of the ALIPH Foundation and the Ukrainian Library Association. According to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications.

The mobile station, which arrived in Ukraine in January 2025, has compact dimensions (6 × 2.3 meters) allowing for quick deployment without special equipment, and it can operate on a generator in the absence of electricity.

From March to August, specialists processed over 350 documents, including about 200 books from the late 19th to early 20th centuries from university libraries, 30–35 newspaper collections from the Kherson Regional Universal Scientific Library, and over 70 archival documents and manuscripts from the National Bank of Ukraine and other institutions.

Odesa, with its rich cultural heritage and under constant threat from bombardments, now has the means to respond quickly to instances of damage to library collections. In October, practical training sessions for librarians on document preservation will be conducted.

This project is being implemented in cooperation with the National Library of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise, the National Library of the Czech Republic, and other partners with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

The project is funded by the Komarek Family Charity Fund and various international donors. The coordinator in Ukraine is the National Library of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise, with the Ukrainian Library Association as a strategic partner.