“APRILOV-PALAUZOV” REGIONAL LIBRARY – GABROVO

“Aprilov-Palauzov” Regional library – Gabrovo collects, processes, stores, provides for use library funds and information performing library and informational services to citizens in the Gabrovo region. The library is the largest publicly available library and has the richest literal fund in the municipality and the region. It is the spiritual successor of the first Bulgarian public library, opened at Aprilov Secondary school in 1845, as a part of its fund and a part of Aprilov’s private library laid the foundations of the reading library in 1861.

From 1924 to 1945 the library published a free weekly newspaper “Tidings of Gabrovo library”. Yet in 1926 the beginning of collecting activities to create regional studies archive of Gabrovo was settled. Up to 1959 the library remained a part of the community center. From 1959 to 1999 it was Methodical Regional Library, from 2000 to 2006 it had the status of municipal cultural institute, but continued to perform partial regional functions, and since 2006 it was Regional Library with methodological features for librarianship in area Gabrovo and center of regional studies.

The library mission in its modern form is to provide free, equal and unrestricted access for the citizens of Gabrovo and Gabrovo area to information sources, products and services like books, periodicals, audiovisual media, access to external and own electronic databases. Library collections include over 258 000 library units of Bulgarian and foreign languages. Every year they add about 3-4 thousand new titles and subscribe about 150 periodicals and through participation in various projects they provide access to external electronic databases. The library keeps a significant part of the national literary heritage – 6 manuscripts, 350 incunabula titles in Bulgarian, 1500 volumes of old printed books in other languages and 14 Renaissance periodical titles up to 1878 (photo type); 20 000 volumes and 148 periodicals from the period from 1878 to 1944.

Information resources cover databases including national bibliography (books, periodicals, records of articles from magazines and newspapers) and proprietary databases, electronic catalog of books and other media; electronic catalog of periodicals; catalog of incunabula, rare and valuable editions; knowledge of the region analytic database with over 250,000 descriptions of Gabrovo region; electronic catalog of books issued in the period from 1878 to 1944 in Bulgarian language; analytical descriptions of articles and books with literary analyzes of literature, reports and other electronic files.

Thanks to traditional and electronic finding aids each year are carried over 700 references are registered 3-4000 regular readers who use about 100,000 library items (books and other media). The library uses a specialized library software enabling standard analytical description and disclosure of the contents of library collections – CDS / ISIS – E-Lib Windows.

“Aprilov-Palauzov” Regional Library is part of Local lore association “Miziya” (Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven and Lovech) for cooperative research of local studies sources for the region of Central Northern Bulgaria. Since 2005, the library is in partnership with the Public Library of Thun (Switzerland). “Aprilov-Palauzov” Regional Library is a union member of the Union of Librarians and Information Services in Bulgaria.

On October 26, 2011 on the occasion of its 150th anniversary the library was awarded the Honorary Sign of Gabrovo for outstanding contribution to the cultural and educational work in the city.

Официален уебсайт: http://libgabrovo.com/