For the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library 2018 has been a year studded with various events marking the 140^th anniversary since its establishment.

The culmination is today, though last week there were two events which attracted public attention. A “140 years St. St. Cyril and Methodius” stamp was validated on 5 December, with author artist Stoyan Dechev. This is not the first time the library has been featured on stamps, but it is the first stamp depicting teacher Mihail Bubotinov, the man who came up with the idea, on 10 December, 1878, to set up a commission with chairman Prof. Marin Drinov with the purpose of creating a Bulgarian national library. An exhibition opened on 7 December “Treasures of the National Library”, displaying valuable exhibits, the highlight being the letter by revolutionary poet Hristo Botev to his wife Veneta and his family, written on board the ship Radetski. The letter is kept at the Bulgarian Historical Archive.

More about the exhibition from Dr. Rumen Kovachev, archivist at the National Library’s Oriental Department.

“It features a fraction of the publications that represent best our various departments. For example, the Oriental Department presents the kadi sicils – the protocol records documenting all trials at a given courthouse. They say who the participants were, what the outcome of the trial was, i.e. what the ruling of the kadi (judge) was. The artefacts from the Bulgarian historical archive are also very intriguing – they feature portraits and photographs of the royal family, the Supreme Macedonian Committee etc.”

If you want to go and see this exhibition, you should waste no time. As these are originals, they should not be left exposed to various outside factors for a long time, so they will be on display until Tuesday morning, after which they will be put away.

New space is being opened on the first floor – “History of Bulgarian Books” – today, the day of the library’s anniversary – 10 December. The new hall will display a 3D pyramid illustrating the history of books, as well as a small-scale model of Gutenberg's printing press, a donation by the Printing Industry Union of Bulgaria.

The rich stock of the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library has been attracting researchers and art experts from various countries. What kind of information are they after? The answer from Assoc. Prof. Lyubomir Georgiev, head of the library’s manuscript, document and book heritage division:

“There are many colleagues coming from Macedonia who want to read up on the history of the revolutionary movement of Bulgarians in Macedonia and various political affairs connected with the Balkan Peninsula. There are researchers from Slavic countries looking for information in our Slavic manuscripts. Our library also attracts the attention of specialists from Turkey and the Islamic countries who come to examine the world’s third biggest Ottoman archive, which is right here, in the national library of Bulgaria.”

The library management has been working on various joint research projects, but it is also focusing its efforts on trying to attract more young readers. A library card can now be issued to anyone over the age of 16 – previously, secondary education was required.

“Many young people come here as volunteers and they work with such dedication,” says Assoc. Prof. Lyubomir Georgiev. “When we are able to we give them free library cards and some become regular readers. On Saturday we are holding the initiative “School for parents-to-be” which attracts the young. It is our ambition to retain our readers of a more mature age, but also to attract the young. That is the main aim of most of the initiatives connected with the 140^th anniversary of the St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library.”

English: Milena Daynova