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Woman using British Council library, Bulgaria - Image © Liba Taylor

Frequently Asked Questions

British Council Library Stock Moves to Sofia University

Country Director Statement

British Council Bulgaria closes its library services from November 2009
July 2009

British Council has maintained a library collection in Sofia since 1991, which is when we first started our operation in Bulgaria. During the 1990s this collection was a valuable resource for audiences who have long identified the United Kingdom as a source of knowledge and ideas.

The library has contributed a great deal to the achievement of our objectives over the years but it is a service which has become much less central to our purpose and vision, one which is not as much in demand as in the past and one which now contributes less to the impact we achieve overall. Wide access to English books and materials has become increasingly easier and the service we have been offering is no longer unique.

We intend to donate most of our library stock to a host library in order to allow continued access to it. British Council will provide further information about this arrangement at the end of October this year.

Our decision to close the library is also based on a need to reallocate resources and ensure as much as possible is spent on project activity and new ways of working in line with the British Council’s changing role across Europe. In recent years we have moved away from being a traditional ”bilateral cultural institute” to building more flexible and dynamic cultural relations. We have launched a new portfolio of work focusing on project work on a larger regional and global scale and introducing new programmes to support the development of strong relations and links between Bulgaria, other European countries and the UK.

We will continue our work with Bulgarian partners, including ministries, educational and cultural institutions, teachers, arts agents, the media, NGOs as well as international agencies and institutions and will expand our networks to achieve mutual sharing of ideas and practices. Our areas of work will focus above all on young audiences in Bulgaria and offer programmes for strengthening intercultural dialogue, promoting tolerance to differences, developing skills for economic competitiveness and innovation.

We will continue to provide extra support for our teaching centre students through a new dedicated self-access centre. The self-access centre will offer our teaching centre customers and parents a range of resources to help with the learning of English.

Our point of contact with the media as previously remains our Public Communications Manager in Sofia. You can contact us for any enquiries about the British Council operation in Bulgaria.

Tony Buckby
Director, British Council Bulgaria

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