Preservation Activities in Bulgaria: The State of Affairs and Possibilities for Cooperation

This report provides a review of Bulgaria's history as it relates to library collections, and describes the current state of preservation activities at key institutions. The discussion includes: the political history of Bulgaria and its library collections; the Soviet state and its aftermath; economic constraints; decentralization of Bulgaria's research libraries; and a description of and statistics for five specific key research libraries. It was discovered that although Bulgaria's government cannot make preservation a priority at this time, the libraries are free to initiate their own projects and collaborations. Bulgarian libraries suffer from inexperience in democracy, priority setting, management, and implementation, but are receptive to reorganization at all levels, and ready for reform, modernization, and leadership. The issue of decentralization and centralized library programs is complicated, but the past three years suggest that decentralization would be detrimental to progress and advancement. The most significant problems are: a lag in development of libraries and the profession; gaps and uneven levels of knowledge and expertise within the profession; nonexistent material resources; and lack of English-speaking librarians to absorb available information. Recommendations are made for the reintroduction of a national preservation program.