BOOK DONATION
Since 1989, western literature and expertise have
been in great demand in Bulgaria. At the same time, schools,
libraries and individual students cannot afford to buy books
published abroad. Over the past three years, the Center's Book
Donation initiative has become very popular in Bulgaria. Thousands
of recipients eagerly await the distribution of each shipment of
books.
CSD started its book donation activities as an
official partner of the U.S. Sabre Foundation in November 1990. The
Sabre Foundation collects university level textbooks and other
specialized books published in the United States within the
previous three or four years, and ships them to Bulgaria for free
distribution. For its part, CSD is responsible for selecting the
most useful and relevant titles for Bulgaria. The books are then
processed and distributed to universities, research institutes,
secondary schools, public libraries, hospitals and health centers,
and to thousands of individual recipients. The Open Society Fund,
Sofia contributes to the costs of book processing and
distribution.
Total Number of Books Donated in 1991 - 1993
Over 93, 000 books and textbooks
Market Value of Books Donated in 1991 - 1993
More than .5 million
Number of Recipients in 1991 - 1993
Over 250 institutions and 4000 individuals
- universities and high schools
- secondary and vocational schools
- research institutes
- public libraries
- hospitals and health centers
- public organizations
- NGO's (associations, foundations, unions,
etc.)
- students
- medical doctors
- researchers and university professors
- engineers and technicians
- economists
- others
At the beginning of 1994, the Center for the Study
of Democracy received, processed and prepared for distribution the
seventh shipment of books donated by the Sabre Foundation. This
shipment consisted of 18,000 volumes of about 550 titles. The books
were given away to approximately 210 organizations including
hospitals, schools, universities, academic institutes, governmental
and administrative units, banks, private companies, individual
professionals, scholars and students. Many of the recipient
organizations held informal exhibitions of the donated books. An
official exhibition of books was organized at the Central Library
of the Medical Academy in Sofia.
The eighth shipment of books from the Sabre
Foundation arrived in late April 1994. It included about 9,000
volumes of 2,626 titles. The books were distributed among the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Technical University in Gabrovo,
the Higher Institute of Chemical Engineering in Sofia, the
University of Mining and Geology in Sofia, the Food Industry
Institute in Plovdiv, the Central Agricultural Library, the
Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Stara Zagora, the medical
universities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Pleven and Stara Zagora, and
the National Oncological Centre.
An exhibition of books donated by the Sabre
Foundation opened at the building of the Presidium of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences on November 29, 1994. It was organized in
cooperation with the Open Society Fund, Sofia, and the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences. Other exhibitions were organized at the
University of Mining and Geology, the Higher Institute of Chemical
Engineering and the Higher Institute of Architecture and
Construction.
The ninth shipment of books donated by the Sabre
Foundation arrived in December 1994. This shipment contained 10,000
volumes of 40 titles.
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