site.btaSliven Regional Library Opened to Readers 70 Years Ago

June 23, 2026, marks the 70th anniversary of the opening to readers of the Sliven Regional Library, one of the biggest cultural institutions in Southeastern Bulgaria, which carries out cultural and information activities in the regions of Sliven and Yambol.

The State Library in Sliven (today the Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library) was established by a Council of Ministers decree in 1955. A year later, it opened to readers with holdings of 8,000 volumes of books and 20 periodicals and organized its first event, a meeting with writer Kamen Kalchev. It became a District Library in 1958. The nationalized period building, in which the library has been accommodated since February 1955, underwent renovations in 1972. In 1987 the institution was granted a Universal Scientific Library status. The library developed specialized departments, reading rooms, and bibliographic services. During the 1990s, it launched computer-based services, established an English-language learning centre, and later provided public internet access. These changes reflected the broader modernization of library services.

Since 1992, by a resolution of the Sliven Municipal Council, the library was named after Sava Dobroplodni (1820-1894), an eminent educator of the Bulgarian National Revival period. The library has received a number of prestigious honours, including the Order of Cyril and Methodius, First Degree, the Hristo G. Danov-2000 National Prize, and the Bulgarian Culture Ministry honorary medal for significant contribution to library work in Bulgaria. Since 1999, the library has organized the Bulgarian Children's Book Festival, which focuses on promoting children's literature and reading, held annually in May with special support of the Ministry of Culture, Sliven Municipality, the Sliven Regional Administration, the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, the Rotary Club – Sliven and publishing houses. The library has also been a part of international projects such as the European Literary Marathon, sponsored by the EU Culture Programme, and Global Libraries - Bulgaria, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Following is an English translation of an original BTA Home News Desk report covering the 60th anniversary of the Sliven Library in 2015:

The Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library in Sliven Celebrates 60th Birthday with Holding of 340,000-Plus Items

Sliven, May 12 (Velina Vasileva of BTA) - On the eve of its 60th birthday, the Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library in Sliven has over 340,000 library items in its holdings, as well as a collection of fully digitized old printed publications, Rositsa Petrova, director of the cultural institution, said in a BTA interview with BTA.

Today, the Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library in Sliven is a modern literary, cultural and scientific information centre, possessing a unique multidisciplinary collection of books, periodicals, prints, music scores, and maps, as well as the so-called new data storage mediums: CDs, DVDs, unique collections of slides, one of these being a personal gift from writer Tsoncho Rodev, Petrova said.

The library is proud of its high-quality holdings in foreign languages. In 1995, with the assistance of the British Council, a Foreign Language Centre was opened at the library, offering over 25,000 volumes. Among the readers at the Centre are Britons, Americans, Ukrainians, Russians, Italians, Turks, etc.

"The library serves over 8,000 readers annually, with 148,000-plus visits on record," said Petrova. She added that more than 294,000 library items were borrowed last year. The library purchases over 10,000 volumes of literature annually, working with more than 60 Bulgarian publishing houses. The wealth of the library's collection can also be judged by the electronic catalogue available on its website, said the Director of the Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library in Sliven.

At the beginning of this year, the library has been included in the Regina Union Catalog with over 101,000 titles, many of which are owned exclusively by it. The library also holds a collection of early printed books which are fully digitized, as well as a substantial body of literature published in the 1878-1944 period, Rositsa Petrova pointed out.

Since 2013, a digital centre with state-of-the-art equipment has been operating under a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and co-financed by the library and the municipality. The centre is also actively used under the Student Internships Programme. A list of all digitized publications is to be presented on the website, and they will be available in electronic format on the library's intranet.

The cultural institution has 75 computers, 51 of which are connected to the Internet, and users have free access to the network. Free computer training is also available in two training rooms.

The library works on many European projects, said Rositsa Petrova, singling out large cultural projects like The European Union through Children's Eyes, Europe in a Fairy Tale, and European Literary Marathon. 

"Publishing is an important part our work," said Petrova, pointing out that the library has produced over 350 publications. A large part of them are valuable local history bibliographic indexes and collections. Another are related to the literary forums held, and a large portion of the publications are produced within the framework of the National Children's Book Festival, explained Petrova.

"This is our small contribution to the analysis of children's book publishing in Bulgaria and other countries," commented Petrova, adding that there are many topics that are not written about, but such questions are raised at the round tables.

The Regional Library also publishes collections of entries in the annual literary competitions for children within the framework of the Children's Book Festival. "We activate children's creativity, encourage them to write, and we will be happy if they are the future authors of quality literature," commented the Director of the Sava Dobroplodni Regional Library.

The building, where it is still housed, was the home of the famous Ruschev Family in the city of Sliven. It has interesting architecture in the Late Sezession style, one of the few surviving buildings in this style in Bulgaria that are used for administrative purposes. It preserves all the ornaments, the wall paintings, for which blueprints are kept and can be restored in the form in which the building was originally constructed at the beginning of the last century. It is a small architectural gem preserved in Sliven, believes the director of the cultural institution.