Library of Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences: history and current state (According to publications from fond of Foreign Ukrainika of Institute of Book Studies of V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine)

The purpose of the study is to cover the process of formation and operation of the Library of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UFAS) according to the documents, stored in the fond of the Department of Foreign Ukrainika of Institute of Book Studies of the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine (DFU IB NLUV). The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, scientificity, systematics. Optimally, the literature from the fond of the DFU IB NLUV, devoted to the history and present of the UFAS Library, was selected through the use of me-thods of search, analysis and synthesis, bibliographic and documentary, which ma-de it possible to determine the relevance of the content of the selected literature to the chosen topic. The scientific novelty lies in the coverage of the history and role of the UFAS Library as a separate structural unit and promulgation of literature from the fond of the Department of Foreign Ukrainika of Institute of Book Studies of the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine, which reveals the process of forma-tion and development of the UFAS Library, that provided the activities of important scientific institution of the diaspora for 75 years. Conclusions. UFAS Library, as a basis for scientific research and the important center of historical and cultural heri-tage of Ukrainians in the free world, was founded simultaneously with the Acade-my and was formed to meet the scientific needs of scientists of the institution and provided for the future return of the collected publications to Ukraine when inde-pendence is gained. The Library played an important role in the development of Ukrainian science, over time, it has become a kind of scientific and information center, accessible not only for Ukrainians, but also for foreign researchers who spe-cialized in Ukrainian studies. Nowadays, the topic of the UFAS Library is still in-sufficiently covered and little known to a wide range of researchers. In the future, UFAS in the United States plans to implement the concept of democratization of foreign documentation (archival and library) which aims to create an all-Ukrainian electronic archival and library Internet portals, freely available to users, that will accelerate the integration of diaspora achievements into mainland science.