site.btaAgency for Bulgarians Abroad Opens Library and Information Centre

The Agency for Bulgarians Abroad opened its own Library with Information Centre in central Sofia. The ribbon was cut by the Agency's Executive Director Rayna Mandzhukova.

Among the attendees were Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Director of the State Cultural Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Milena Dimitrova, expert from the team of Vice President Iliana Iotova; Penka Ivanova, head of Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science; Prof. Nikolay Chervenkov; historian Ivan Duminica; Valeri Ivanov from the Center of Bessarabian Bulgarians in Bulgaria; and Angelinka Angelova, librarian at the National High School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Among the guests were also journalists and representatives of NGOs that the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad partners with.

Speaking to BTA ahead of the ribbon-cutting, Rayna Mandzhukova said that every new library is a reason to celebrate. “The idea to create a library at the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad dates back more than 15 years, to my first term as Chair of the then State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad [from 2009 to 2010]. We have managed to make it happen only now, and that is truly a joy. Every new library is a reason for celebration.”

She said that the library collection was built over time, thanks in part to Bulgarian expatriates who donated their own books or works relevant to their communities. Many Bulgarian periodicals published abroad also contributed. “We also had our own magazine, Ek, which was our crowning jewel for decades. It was discontinued in 2010, and that was a great injustice,” she said.