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Reflection on Bulgarian Libraries

LI860XJ
Curr Iss in Global Info Infras

Holley Larsen
Emporia State University

Instructors Notes
Having read an overview of Bulgarian history, you know that the communists were
forced out in 1989. (Prior to this, libraries had been financially supported -and somewhat
controlled- by the national communist government.) After the fall of communism,
libraries were forced to seek support from their local government, in the case of public
libraries, and their educational institution in the case of academic and school
libraries. Most had limited success.
In 1996, Iskra Mihailova came to the United States on a grant from the US Department of
State, US Agency for International Development (USAID). She spent four months at the
Colorado State Library. The year following her return to Bulgaria, I visited her for a
short trip. I was encouraged to return the next year and do a lecture tour, then in
subsequent years, brought librarians to Bulgaria to meet with their colleagues and have
conferences. Around 1999, we created partnerships between Bulgarian and Colorado
libraries and in 2002; we applied, in cooperation with an Iowa NGO and Iowa public
libraries, for a US State Department Grant.
Your assignment this week is to read three documents associated with the American
Bulgarian Library Exchange (ABLE) grant.
1.

Summary of the Colorado Bulgarian partnerships before the ABLE grant

2.

Proposal for the ABLE grant, 2002 (Please note that we scanned this from a
printed document and the formatting into MS Word is not consistent.)

3.

Evaluation of the ABLE grant, 2008

A Reflection on Bulgarian Libraries

In the late 1980s, Europe was the central focus as a major political shift took place.
The world watched as the Iron Curtain officially fell. It may have not resulted in violence
like their neighboring country of Romania, but the fall was still heavily felt in Bulgaria.
In 1989 demonstrations on the ecological issues brought awareness to the people and a
general campaign for political reform was introduced. The communist Party officially
lost all power in June of 1990 when a free election was held and won by the Socialist
Party. It was not an easy win and much of its victory was accredited to the street protests
of the people. In 1991 a political beginning was introduced. It came with a new
Constitution, an elected President, and a Prime Minister and Cabinet. Much was to be
grateful for.
However, like most countries adjusting to this bright new life of post-socialist
regimes, Bulgaria suffered. The economy took a spiraling downfall and left its country in

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financial stress. Industries were no longer tied to the Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance and found that they could not compare to the global market they once were
shielded from. This resulted in monumental unemployment rates and poverty. The fast
changes of political power, the government nor the people were ready for the new world.
Many industries took their fare share of hits, but one that never fully regained its
positions in the communities is the library.
In the ABLE project summary we read that during Soviet times, Bulgaria regarded
education to be a top priority. Its ranking was one of the best in Central Europe. In 2012
Bulgaria has dropped to the 31 slots. BBC is quoted about the study stating, Looking at
education systems that succeed, the study concludes that spending is important, but not as
much as having a culture that is supportive of learning. (Novinite, 2012) Bulgaria may
have financially suffered, but it still maintained that desire for education.
During this economic crisis its libraries lost all funding and fell into disrepair. The
new system provided no opportunities for librarians to be involved with decisions and
planning. Even so, these librarians did not have the experience to seek assistance. For
generations they were simply provided for and never had to approach local officials for
funding. Some of the larger libraries received donations from publishers and other
countries, most never regained a book budget. Thankfully, as we see in the readings
provided for this assignment, BBC has never spoken truer words.
In 1996 Iskra Mikhaylova, a continuing education consultant for Bulgarian National
Library, made a tip to Colorado for four months as an American Library Association
Fellow. Making an impression on a Colorado State Librarian named Nancy Bolt, who
then decided to visit Bulgaria. While there, Bolt met with the directors of the Bulgarian

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Library Association and with the help of the Information Resource Center and the
American Embassy, they formed an alliance. This partnership would be the start of a
very successful endeavor to bring back to life public libraries and services to Bulgaria.
With the help of Bolt and the Colorado Association of Libraries partnerships
between Colorado and Bulgaria were slowly developed. In the early stages they learned a
great deal about how something like this could succeed and what was not working. They
finally settled on four requirements; a desire to learn about a different culture, willingness
to frequently communicate with your partner, someone who speaks English, and an email address. With these in place the program blossomed and even resulted in some of the
Bulgarian librarians to visit their partner buildings in Colorado.
Each partnership had different success and failure stories, but the thriving program
has brought out many opportunities that have since helped the two cultures thrive. One of
these was a grant received called the ABLE project. In 2003 the project began a three
-year plan for 5 pilot centers in Bulgaria. The concept was to transform these public
library systems into Community Information Centers. It did not affect 5 like they had
planned, in turn it reached 18 different libraries and at the end of the program they began
to collect the data and the numbers showed a massive change.
What ABLE did transformed these libraries into hot spots for the communities they
served. Statistics went through the roof. The first step into the program was to provide the
libraries with computers and to establish free Internet for the users. This also let to
individual Library websites. Once it started, it could not be stopped. They statistics in one
branch started at 592 for website hits in the first year and then jumped to 176,755 in the
next. Zora Library located in Sliven was one of the first to offer free Internet to its users.

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The Director of that library expressed that the funds from ABLE made the Zora Library
the only library in the city offering free Internet access to its users. Something the
community appreciated and was openly received by the community and improved the
image of the library. It turned into a necessity and even after the program was over, they
were determined to still offer that service.
With the help of technology and the partnerships developed these new
Community Information Center put the focus back into education and the importance of
libraries. The determination to make things different and to help the people you serve is
very evident in the Bulgarian people. They lost the funding to succeed in one way, but
were able to find another solution through the help of others by reaching out. Knowledge
should be free and available to all who strive to learn.
As the program ended almost seven years ago, so many different scenarios could
have played out. Did it slowly return to a non-existent or outdate tool for knowledge? Did
it thrive and become something substantial in the communities? Were they able to adapt
and grow with the continual change of technology without the proper funds? This is
something that would be interesting to see first hand.
In evaluating the effects of this program it would also be interesting to see the
economic change, if any. Would there be an increase in public awareness towards
libraries? Would there also be a community growth with a decrease in poverty and
unemployment? Optimistic as it may sound the hard work, love of knowledge, and the
dedication towards education can only lead to success. This is something that I look
forward to seeing first hand