Ivan Vazov National Library

Overview

Ivan Vazov National Library in the city of Plovdiv has the status of a regional library. With a collection of 1.5 million library units, it is the second largest in the country after the National Library "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Sofia.

It was founded in 1879 as the Plovdiv National Library on the initiative of Joakim Gruev by Alexander Bashmakov, who became its first director. It was opened to readers on September 15, 1882. Until the Union in 1885, the library served as the national library of Eastern Rumelia.

Since 1974 the library has been housed in its own specially designed building (1972), the work of arch. Maria Mileva. Many artists participate in the design, including Georgi Bozhilov, Hristo Stefanov, Ioan Leviev, Todor Panayotov, Lyuben Dimanov.

In 2017, 50,000 items from the library's holdings were digitized, including all issues of 61 periodicals published before 1944.