The 20th National Library Week has started, beginning on Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day, the professional holiday for library and information specialists. The theme this year is “One mission, many voices: libraries unite”.
From 11 to 15 May, hundreds of libraries across Bulgaria will hold meetings with local authorities and other stakeholders and open their doors to show the many ways they can help their local communities with various services.
This year’s campaign aims to highlight the role of libraries in social development to legislative, executive and local authorities.
67,000 public libraries across Europe serve hundreds of millions of users. Bulgarian public libraries hold significant untapped potential which has been underutilised due to a lack of strategy, coherent national policy or sustainable funding. We call on national and local authorities to integrate libraries as players in public policy and to guarantee the conditions that will allow them to play these roles.
Public libraries are not just places for access to knowledge, but are where society learns to be society. We call on politicians and local authorities to support and use the potential of public libraries to fully realise their social impact.
IN ORDER TO DEVELOP BULGARIAN PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY WE MUST:
- Form a coherent national development policy which supports policies and actions in favour of European public libraries, consistent with the Report on Public Libraries in Europe, produced by the European Commission expert group on the recommendation of the Council of Europe
- Reform and build a sustainable infrastructure for public libraries
- Build a modern financing system fit for purpose with the new functions of public libraries
- Ensure an adequate regulatory framework, which guarantees the implementation of the main functions of public libraries
- Create a transparent and publicly accessible system for measuring the quality and assessing the effectiveness of public libraries
National Library Week has been organised by the Bulgarian Library and Information Association, in partnership with the Global Libraries Bulgaria Foundation and with additional assistance of the National Gallery. The campaign media partners are the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, Bulgarian National Television, Bulgarian National Radio and the Children’s Books and I Read online media outlets.
You can read more about the campaign and events around Bulgaria here (Bulgarian language only): https://lib.bg/bg/za-bbia/novini/xx-ta-natsionalna-bibliotechna-sedmitsa-i-godishni-nagradi-na-bbia