The museum, whose exposition describes the development of Ukrainian literature from the 11th to the 21st century in historical sequence, was opened in 1986.
The building that houses the collection was built back in the second half of the 19th century. From 1871, it was occupied by one of the best private institutions of the Ukrainian capital — the Collegium of Pavel Galagan. In 1885-1886, the famous Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko worked in the collegium library, and in the church, also located in this building, he married his beloved Olga Khoruzhynska.
About 5,000 exhibits are displayed in the museum halls, and the collection as a whole contains about 80,000 items. Among them are the famous "Apostol" by Ivan Fedorov — the first printed book in Slavonic letters, works of decorative and fine art, personal belongings and lifetime editions of works by Panas Myrny, Lesya Ukrainka, Taras Shevchenko and, of course, Ivan Franko.
