Packed in white packets, the titles were rescued from Kharkiv, the major city in the northeast, partially surrounded and bombarded almost daily by forces from Moscow.

Now stored in what used to be a children's reading room, they are only a fraction of what the publisher managed to salvage from the bombings.

"Our warehouse workers tried to evacuate at least some of the books. They filled them up in a truck and everything was delivered via a postal company," explains Romana Iaremyn, 27, in her yellow hoodie.

They started with the newest and most popular releases, mostly children's books.

Romana Yaremyn ranges on the shelves of her bookstore in Lviv, April 20, 2022 Yuriy Dyachyshyn AFP

Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, has been relatively spared from fighting since the start of the Russian invasion two months ago, with the exception of a few deadly air raids.

Thousands of people, mostly women and children, have fled to Lviv or crossed the city to Europe since the fighting began.

"I don't know how my colleagues managed to stay in Kharkiv. Those who fled and stayed with me said they felt the city was going to be razed," Romana said.

Authors at the front

The young woman says the bookshop reopened promptly in the aftermath of the invasion, providing shelter in the basement when anti-bombing sirens sounded, and organizing children's readings for the displaced.

In the first wave of arrivals, parents who fled their homes leaving almost everything behind thronged there to find fables to tell their children to entertain them.

The bookseller shows a children's book, in Lviv on April 20, 2022 Yuriy Dyachyshyn AFP

Some of them bought "Polinka", the story of a girl and her grandfather, published just before the invasion and written by an author now at the front.

"He wanted to leave something for his grandchildren," says Romana Iaremyn.

On the shelves of the adult section, the bookseller shows a collection of essays on Ukrainian women forgotten by history.

Its author is also fighting Russian forces.

"A lot of our writers are in the military today," confirms Romana.

Need to read

With sirens blaring in Lviv to signal the end of the morning alert, baristas return to their cafes to heat up their espresso machines until the next scare.

The sun begins to fade in the blue sky and a young man and a woman embrace on a terrace.

The many bookstores in the city are open.

In a pedestrian crossing under a central road, several small stalls sell translations of foreign classics such as "1984" by George Orwell or even Japanese manga.

Romana Yaremyn's bookstore in Lviv on April 20, 2022 Yuriy Dyachyshyn AFP

Near the Arsenal Museum, a pigeon sits on the head of a large statue of Ivan Fyodorov, a 16th-century printer from Moscow who is buried in Lviv.

At its feet, when the sirens are not sounding and it is not raining, a few vendors offer second-hand books.

Dressed in a light blue coat and woolen hat, Iryna, 48, sits alongside rows of books of literature and history for sale or rent, the latter option particularly popular with older customers.

Romana in the warehouse of her bookstore in Lviv on April 20, 2022 Yuriy Dyachyshyn AFP

Iryna, who did not want to reveal her surname, explains that she stopped working for more than a month after the start of the war.

When she returned to the square in early April, many parents from the East came to pick up books for their children.

"I gave them a lot, because kids want to read," she says.

© 2022 AFP