December 10, 2008

The chair of the National assembly took part in the celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”. The event was marked with the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the Bulgarian historian and cofounder of the Bulgarian literary society, prof. Marin Drinov.

The speaker of the Bulgarian parliament noted that the anniversary of the creation of the oldest Bulgarian institution merits to be broadly observed and given the special consideration of society, because the foundation of the National library was the expression of the most cherished wishes of the Bulgarian people to build their own state and institutions and at the same time to have a special place where knowledge, science and education could be preserved.

He further explained that the foundation of the Library and the Parliament have a lot to do with Marin Drinov – who contributed strongly with his works and intellect to the laying of the pillars of the Bulgarian state. He was the one, among the sixth members of the Supreme Administrative Council after the Liberation, in charge of Education and the drawing of the first Constitution in the Constituent assembly. I am glad, added Mr. Pirinski that this exhibition coincides with the 130th anniversary of the National Library, because the personality of Marin Drinov deserves to be known and appreciated accordingly by the contemporary society.

In the course of the 130th years of its existence, the Library has won the recognition as a repository of knowledge and a storehouse of documents, testifying to and preserving the culture of our society. Currently it keeps more than seven and a half million (7 500 000) books and documents, a wealth used by thousand readers every year. In the words of Mr. Pirinski, the anniversary is also an occasion to pay respect to its directors throughout the years. A book presenting the directors of the National Library was also shown at the ceremony.

The National Library “St. Cyril and Methodius” was founded on December 10th, 1878 in Sofia, first as a public city library. It has been transformed into National Library and Archives for Bulgarian paper documents and books with the Law on the Deposition of Printed Materials in Public Libraries, adopted by the Bulgarian National Assembly on 22 February 1897.