ABLE NEWSLETTER

Spring, 2006

Vol 1, Issue 1

 

 

 

Books donated to Bulgarian libraries

Thanks to the efforts of Colorado and Iowa librarians, and particularly, Michael Sawyer from the Rangeview Library District in Adams County, Colorado, we received hundreds of books to send to our Bulgarian partner libraries.   One big surprise was the number of Spanish language books donated and the interest of our Bulgarian library partners in starting these collections.  Donations of books came from:

Marshal Cavensish Publishers

Baker and Taylor

BWI Publishers

Children’s Plus

Barbara Stube, retired teacher

Aurora Public Library, Colorado

Jefferson County Public Library, Colorado

Marian Public Library, Iowa

Sioux City Public Library, Iowa

 

We sent 29 boxes of books to all 18 of our ABLE partners.  Thanks to our donators and the librarians who helped us get them.  Funding for mailing was provided by the ABLE project and the Bulgarian/Colorado Library Project Fund.

 

Reports from Bulgarian Partner Libraries

Our Bulgarian partners sent the following reports:

 

Kiril and Methodi Chitalisthe Library, Rakovski

Aneta Pendakova, writes:

After American librarian Annette Choszczyk’s s visit and her presentation to our users, a lot of people come in the library and asked if the library could find information in other countries.  Last month a library user asked for an article from an American writer.  I sent an e-mail to our partner library, Colorado Christian University, and they were able to send the article.   The man was glad that it is possible for our library to get information for him that is interesting for him to read.

When I returned from the U.S., I gave a presentation to our Board with some pictures of American libraries and they decided to create a place for children in the library.   We have it now; we made a project for a Daily Children’s Center. We found some money and the main repair was done. What we need now is funding for equipment for our “Story Room.”  But the main thing is that the ABLE project helped me to show to the Board that we have to do something more for the children and we did it.   

 

This photo was taken during the Christmas party in the new Children’s room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sofia Central Library

Diana Velkova writes:

We are continuing to offer classes for those who want to learn and practice English.  Now I have 99 people on my list and several volunteers.  I am also trying to arrange programs for disabled people.  Some of them are children and some are young people with mental disabilities. We are planning a library tour, a movie and a theatre for the children.  We are also planning a reading marathon that is being sponsored by the Association of Bulgarian Publishers and by ULISO, our national library association.   It is scheduled for April 19th.   We are planning readings at the Children’s Department and I hope that writers, actors and pop stars will read and every colleague from our Language Departments will invite native speakers. We have  American, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, German and French Langusge  Departments. I invited Roma people too and they agreed.  We have also had a donation of $1000 from an American friend, Judith Hanson, to paint the walls in our reading room.

Kamelia Koneva also writes:

On the occasion of The Day of Sofia (17 Sept.), The Sofia City Library displayed photos, maps, books and magazines about the history of town planning and architecture. It was a good chance to bring media into the library.  Making displays is traditional library activity, but mainly with educational purpose. Now we decided to use this event for promotion the library services. In my assessment, we did very successful. We connected with about 30 media offices and announced the event. Nearly 10 of them responded, came to the Library and interviewed us.  In these interviews we spoke not only about the exposition, but also about the library’s abilities to answer public information needs. We also gave to each visitor in the event a bookmark that contains recommended web sites showing photos from the town of Sofia, The Sofia City Library web page address and Bulgarian logo “@your library.”  

Institute of Librarianship and Information Technologies

Dobrinka Stoykova writes:

Several days ago we received the books you sent.  There are so many ideas in the books about how to work with children and their parents in Simple Steps, in Story Time craft in Sing Stories, in Paper Cuttings, in How to Learn Letters and in The Young Explorer. The best of all is, as it seems to me, that these ideas were proven in the practice, in fact, they are alive. All that books will be a valuable addition to my course “Library services to children and schoolchildren.”   In combination with the materials about summer reading they will give ideas about how to behave in our libraries with customers in different ages and how to work with parents.  I hope that some of my students will try to adopt the ideas in the books to Bulgarian conditions and to improve their work.

 

Biblioteka Partenii Pavlovich, Silistra

Neli Stoilova and Krasi Nyagolova write:

I have to write you for so many different things and I don’t know where to start.

ULISO and the all the librarians who have visited the U.S. developed a Project that will be financed from The U S State department.  The basic activity of this project is National Library Week. The basic goal is to focus public attention on libraries – support and advocacy. All Bulgarian libraries - public, university, and school - will participate. Bulgarians will use the experience of ALA and the Colorado Library Association.   

We are very busy at this time of the year because you know that our customers must pay taxes this time of year. We helped people find out the taxes for retirees, disabled people and parentless children who pay less. I was in Sofia last week and Snejana Ianeva at the U.S. Embassy presented to me a laptop and used printer. And I am so happy and thankful of this because I could never buy laptop with budget money. And we received a big box with incredible books, albums, and historical atlas of America and CDs with classic music. It was a big surprise.

 

We have in the library now a new Registration Center. It was the room for showing video films before. Now it is the place in the library where the customers can make their registration and pay fees for the library cards. The registration was in five different departments before. It was the reason to repair the first floor and to move the office of director near the registration area. I think it is better for the citizens that this office is on the first floor. And with this repair we were able to show to the Government other repairs that this building needs. It was a way for us to buy new computers, printers etc. We bought new furniture too. This hasn’t happened in 15 years in the library. We have changed the form of library cards. Some of the library cards are now free of charge – for the people of the local government, Mayor, city councilors, grantors, businessmen and artists. It is rather symbolic gesture to them; it is like attention and a reminder to come to the library, for involvement and future support. The local newspapers liked library changes very much and wrote about this in the newspaper.   The Mayor opens the Registration center on February 10th along with other dignitaries.

 

A new library user at the new Registration Desk

 

 

 

In March we had a new library event: “Lady’s atelier 1900”  The theme of a first event was “The jewelers – passion and necessity.”   A special guest was a jeweler, who presented his own collection of gold jewelry, and an ethnographer, who told about the history of jewelers in Silistra region. There was also a psychologist was at the meeting too, and made very interesting psychological profiles and was fun.

 

 

From the jewelry exhibition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biblioteka Prof. Boyan Penev Library, Razgrad

Maya Petrova writes:

Although the Prof. Boyan Penev Library was not one of the 6 pilot libraries that were intended to open Community Information Centers, we actually have the necessary conditions for its functioning. We have three public computer stations placed in one of the reading rooms, with good Internet connection speed and access to our electronic resources and databases, as well as those shared with us by our partner library in Newton, Iowa. We started gathering information materials concerning our future accession to the European Union, and a special place for materials dedicated to public libraries in the United States and Newton Public Library. We have an information board displaying our participation in the ABLE project, with many pictures of Sue Padilla’s visit to Razgrad last May, and the following visit of Bulgarian librarians, including our director, to the ALA conference in Chicago.  Our library already has a regular column @your library in the local newspapers, and for our 135 anniversaries a new logo was designed.

 

 

 

Rodina Chitalisthe Library, Stara Zagora

Nadja Grueva writes:

My colleagues and I feel very good because of the National Marathon of reading, which took place in our country on the occasion of the 23rd of April - The International Day of the Book. In Stara Zagora the Marathon lasted 24 hours and people were reading at 37 places in the town. Children and adults, publishers and writers, journalists and many more read as part of the marathon.

 

 

 

 

                                                                       

Thank you for the materials you sent for the National Library Week.   In Bulgaria it is going to take place from May 15th to 21st and now we prepare for it. The week is going to be opened by an exhibition - Contemporary Bulgarian Library - in the Bulgarian Parliament and Forum-and discussion about the problems of libraries with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education.   In the towns we are going to have meetings with the local authority.  In each library there is going to be a day of the programs and exhibitions.

 

Biblioteka Pri Chitalisthe Prosveta, Gotce Delchev

Rositza Poparkova writes:

I have been organizing a couple of events as a participant in the ABLE project.  We held many classes with students from the schools in Gotce Delchev to familiarize them with the literature available and our American partners. I also talked with students from the two private language schools here to present them our partners and the foreign literature they could use. Besides, I gave several interviews for the local media - the radio station, the regional television, and the newspapers. In the library there is a permanent exhibition with books, donated by our partners.

 

 

 

 

From American Partner Libraries

 

Sioux City Public Library, Sioux City, Iowa

Jeanette Bobeen writes:

We have been in frequent e-mail contact with our partner in Pazardjik.  I did borrowed one program idea from them.  When I was there in May they had a display of pictures the children had drawn of Hans Christian Andersen stories, "The Ugly Duckling" and "Thumbelina", to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth.  Building on their idea we did a whole series of classroom visits introducing Andersen to the children and partnered with a local community theatre group to do a program of the "Ugly Duckling" at the library. I asked Daniela to thank the children's librarians there for the idea and she e-mailed back how excited they were that we had used their idea.

 

Bemis Public Library, Littleton Colorado

Phyllis Larison writes:

The Bemis Knitting Group meets every week at the library on Friday at 2:00 p.m.   This group met to knit items to our sister libraries in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria to distribute to their patrons and staff who may need them.  I recently sent a box of approximately 60 hats, mittens, scarves, etc. to Bulgaria.  The ladies in this group made all of the items.  The members of the group help each other on knitting projects and we have had participants of all ages in the group.

 

 

Librarians in Stara Zagora modeling the hats and scarves they received from the Bemis Public Library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Issue:

Reports from Bulgarian travelers to America and American travelers to Bulgaria and reports from National Library Week in Bulgaria.

 

To make comments or submit articles, contact:

Nancy Bolt                                         303 642 0338  (phone)

9018 Ute Drive                                   303 905 9347 (mobile)

Golden, CO 80403                             nancybolt@earthlink.net