The State Institute for Culture Partakes in the Celebrations on the 147th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Library "St. Cyril and Methodius"
On 10th December, the National Library "St. Cyril and Methodius" celebrated its 147th anniversary with a special visiting exhibition "Stories of Glagolitic Times", provided by the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Bulgarian Language Institute "Professor Lyubomir Andreychin" at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Official guests at the event included State Institute for Culture director Ms. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency director Mr. Kiril Valchev, Bulgarian Member of Parliament Ms. Rositsa Kirova, Assoc. Prof. Desislava Naydenova from the Cyril and Methodius Scientific Center at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Mr. Anton Alexandrov from the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technologies INSAIT, employees and librarians.
In her welcome speech, National Library director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kalina Ivanova extended her gratitude to library staff for their continuous effort and dedication in preserving national memory, literature, speech and culture. Mr. Kiril Valchev, who is also a member of the Public Council of the National Library, in turn highlighted the rich history of the National Library as the oldest state institution in the country and emphasized its significance for Bulgarian society over the past decades.
In her congratulatory address, director Ms. Yoveva-Dimitrova emphasised the excellent partnership the State Institute for Culture nurtures with the National Library of Bulgaria, noting that this is the second mobile exhibition the State Institute for Culture provides for the library’s year-long anniversary program, under the patronage of Vice President Iliana Yotova, marking 1170 years since the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet, following the exhibition "Alphabet and History" which was showcased in April of this year. Ms. Yoveva-Dimitrova expressed her satisfaction that these projects have a right place and significance in the development of national cultural memory and confirmed her readiness to the National Library to continue expanding the existing international partnership between the two institutions. The exhibition has been compiled through a project at the Ministry of Education and Science by a team from the Bulgarian Language Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences headed Prof. Yavor Miltenov. Assoc. Prof. Desislava Naydenova, as co-author of the exhibition, emphasized the historical significance of recent scientific discoveries regarding the Glagolitic alphabet, which confirm its use up until the 15th century AD at the earliest. She noted that the Glagolitic alphabet would be used not only in the preparation of Christian liturgical texts, but in medical documentation and everyday life alike.