BOOKS AND READING I N BULGARIA

by V l a d i m i r Simeonov

and o the rs

UNESCO

PREFACE

T h i s document i s one o f a s e r i e s o f n a t i o n a l monographs t h a t Unesco i s p u b l i s h i n g o n t h e s t a t e o f books and r e a d i n g i n a number o f c o u n t r i e s . The a i m i s t o p r o v i d e book p r o f e s s i o n a l s , and more g e n e r a l l y , a l l who a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n p r o m o t i n g books and r e a d i n g i n t h e w o r l d , w i t h as d e t a i l e d as p o s s i b l e a s u r v e y o f m a t t e r s r e l a t i n g t o a u t h o r s h i p , publishing, m a t e r i a l p r o d u c t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f books, and r e a d i n g i n t h e coun- t r i e s concerned.

The p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s s e r i e s o f monographs fo rms part o f U n e s c o * s programme, a d o p t e d by t h e G e n e r a l Conference a t i t s t w e n t y - f i r s t s e s s i o n (i98O), t o i d e n t i f y o b s t a c l e s t o book p r o d u c t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n so as t o c o n t r i b u t e t o a c t i v i t i e s p l a n n e d f o r t h e development o f c u l t u r a l in- d u s t r i e s and t o c o u n t r y programming. I t i s hoped tha t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n o b t a i n e d w i l l be u s e f u l i n i n d i c a t i n g a r e a s where e f f o r t s a r e needed a t t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l t o improve book p r o d u c t i o n and i n c r e a s e r e a d i n g a c t i - v i t i e s i n t h e c o u n t r i e s concerned. Unesco has asked t h e a u t h o r s t o f o l l o w t h e same p a t t e r n , as f a r as p o s s i b l e , so t h a t t h e i r r e s e a r c h f indings may appear i n a comparable form.

T h i s document has been p r e p a r e d by a p a n e l o f a u t h o r s u n d e r A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r V l a d i m i r Simeonov, Ph.D., G e n e r a l D i r e c t o r o f Book Publishing i n Bulgaria. The p a n e l i n c l u d e s a l s o :

T r a y a n I v a n o v , D i r e c t o r o f t h e J u s a u t o r Agency;

Atanas S v i l e n o v , l i t e r a r y c r i t i c , " L i t e r a r y C r i t i c i s m 1 ! , S e c t i o n o f t h e U n i o n o f Bulgar ian W r i t e r s ;

B o r i s Damyanov, S e c r e t a r y o f t h e U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n T r a n s l a t o r s ;

E n g i n e e r Lyubomi r L o u t s o v , Depu ty D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l o f t h e "Bulgarska P o l y g r a p h i a l l C o r p o r a t i o n ;

A n g e l Angelov, Depu ty D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l o f t h e "Book D i s t r i b u t i o n 1 1 C o r p o r a t i o n ;

A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r H r i s t o n a d j i h r i s t o v , Ph.D., Depu ty D i r e c t o r o f t h e W y r i l and Method ius " N a t i o n a l L ib ra ry ;

K o n s t a n t i n a Nedkova, Ph.D., I n s t i t u t e o f Cul tural Research a t t h e Bulgarian Academy of S c i e n c e s and t h e Commit tee o f C u l t u r e ;

Margar i ta Zahar ieva , E d i t o r - i n - c h i e f a t " B u l g a r s k a Kniga" ;

Anny Bagarova, S e n i o r E d i t o r a t " B u l g a r s k a K n i g a " ;

Ancho K r u s t e v , S e c r e t a r y of t h e N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f t h e F r i e n d s o f Books Movement;

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V e r a Gyoreva, S e n i o r E d i t o r a t llBulgarska Kniga";

Vass i l Pekounov, S e n i o r E d i t o r a t I1Bu lga rska Kniga".

The a u t h o r s a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e c h o i c e and t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e f a c t s c o n t a i n e d i n th i s t e x t , and f o r t h e o p i n i o n s exp ressed t h e r e i n , w h i c h a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t h o s e o f Unesco and do n o t commit t h e O r g a n i z a t i o n .

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CONTENTS

I. INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTION

1. Language i n w h i c h Bulgar ian L i t e r a t u r e i s w r i t t e n

2. U n i f i c a t i o n and S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n of T e r m i n o l o g y i n t h e T r a n s l a t i o n o f S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l L i t e r a t u r e

3. L i t e r a r y C r i t i c i s m

4. A u t h o r s and T r a n s l a t o r s . Forms o f Encouragement

5. P r o f e s s i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s

II PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES

1. Publ ishing Houses

2. S t a t e o f Book Publishing

3. P u b l i s h e r s ' Output

4. M e e t i n g Readers ' Needs

5. P r o f e s s i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s

III. PHYSICAL PRODUCTION

I V . DISTRIBUTION

1. B o o k s e l l i n g Network

2 . I m p o r t and E x p o r t

3. L i b r a r i e s

V. READING

VI . PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

V I I . LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BASIS

1. C o p y r i g h t

2. Encouragement o f Books and R e a d i n g

Pages

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5 1 - 52

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"Books p lay an e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n S o c i a l i s t B u l g a r i a . S o c i a l i s t Bu lgar ia has done away w i t h i l l i t e r a c y w h i c h i s t h e m a i n b a r r i e r between t h e b r o a d masses and books. The e d u c a t i o n a l and c u l t u r a l standards o f t h e p e o p l e r i s e w i t h e v e r y passing year . The g r o w i n g p r o s p e r i t y o f t h e p e o p l e and t h e l o w p r i c e s o f books i n t h i s c o u n t r y make books more and more a c c e s s i b l e t o a l l .

The B u l g a r i a n Communist P a r t y , o u r s t a t e b o d i e s and c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t i o n s make g r e a t e f f o r t s t o mu l t ip ly o u r t r e a s u r y o f books and t o see that i t spreads even more w i d e l y among t h e p e o p l e and t h e youth.If

TODOR ZHIKOV

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I. INTELLECTUAL PRODUCTION - The B u l g a r i a n p e o p l e have had a s c r i p t and a c u l t u r e o f t h e i r own

s i n c e t i m e s o f o l d and among t h e i r most c o n s p i c u o u s n a t i o n a l f e a t u r e s a r e a t h i r s t f o r knowledge, eagerness t o l e a r n and l o v e o f books. The f i r s t B u l g a r i a n books appeared more than t e n c e n t u r i e s ago and t h e r e i g n o f K i n g Simeon t h e G r e a t (893-927) has gone down i n h i s t o r y as I l t h e Go lden Age o f B u l g a r i a n L e t t e r s " . Th roughou t t h e i r h i s t o r y , i n p e r i o d s of g l o r y and d e c l i n e , o f f o r e i g n bondage and hardships, t h e B u l g a r i a n p e o p l e have w r i t t e n and spread t h e i r books, w h i c h have a l - ways been l i n k e d w i t h t h e i r destiny and struggles. W i t h o u t t h i s l i t e r a r y past i t w o u l d be i m p o s s i b l e t o u n d e r s t a n d p r o p e r l y t h e p l a c e and r o l e o f books i n p r e s e n t - d a y Bulgaria.

The sweep ing changes i n t h e n a t i o n ' s p o l i t i c a l and economic s t r u c - t u r e s a f t e r t h e s o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n o f September 9, 1944, l e d t o a gradual e r a d i c a t i o n o f i l l i t e r a c y i n t h e c o u n t r y and t o a democra t i za - t i o n of e d u c a t i o n and c u l t u r e w h i c h became a c c e s s i b l e t o t h e masses. S u f f i c e i t t o m e n t i o n that e d u c a t i o n i n B u l g a r i a i s t u i t i o n - f r e e a t a l l l e v e l s and secondary e d u c a t i o n i s compulsory. A s t i m e p a s s e d t h e publishing, p r i n t i n g and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f books g a t h e r e d momentum and i n r e c e n t y e a r s t h e r e has been a r e m a r k a b l e boom i n t h i s sphere. B u l g a r i a t o d a y i s among t h e w o r l d ' s l e a d i n g n a t i o n s i n t e r m s of books p u b l i s h e d p e r c a p i t a , i t s n e t w o r k o f s t a t e and p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s , t h e number o f books r e a d , p e r s o n a l l i b r a r i e s i n e v e r y home, r u r a l a r e a s in- c luded, t h e degree t o w h i c h r e a d e r s ' i n t e r e s t s a r e s a t i s f i e d , t h e volume o f t r a n s l a t i o n s o f f o r e i g n a u t h o r s , t h e i m p o r t and e x p o r t o f books, e t c .

1. Language i n w h i c h Bulgarian L i t e r a t u r e i s w r i t t e n

Bu lgar ia has a p o p u l a t i o n o f a b o u t 8.5 m i l l i o n . I t i s a mono- n a t i o n a l s t a t e , and t h e o f f i c i a l and l i t e r a r y l anguage i s B u l g a r i a n . There a r e a number o f l o c a l d i a l e c t s but t h e i r u s e i s l i m i t e d t o c e r t a i n r e g i o n s and t h e y p lay n o par t wha tsoever i n t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y a c t i v i t y . I n t h i s sense t h e r e a r e no l anguage p r o b l e m s con- n e c t e d w i t h t h e p r o d u c t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f books.

Bulgarian i s one o f t h e g r o u p o f S l a v i c l anguages ; more p r e c i s e l y , i t 'be longs t o t h e S o u t h S l a v i c languages.

The c r e a t i o n o f t h e f i r s t Bulgarian a l p h a b e t by C o n s t a n t i n e - C y r i l , t h e P h i l o s o p h e r , during t h e second h a l f o f t h e 9 t h c e n t u r y (883) n o t o n l y marked t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e c e n t u r i e s - o l d h i s t o r y o f t h e l i t e r a r y B u l g a r i a n l anguage and of t h e S l a v s c r i p t ; i t was, i n f a c t , a g r e a t r e v o l u t i o n a r y a c t t h r o u g h w h i c h a new, u n t i l t h e n unknown, c u l t u r e i n t h e h i s t o r y o f n a t i o n s was conceived. T h i s s c r i p t , w h i c h w a s c l o s e t o t h e S l a v t r i b e s and w h i c h t h e y c o u l d e a s i l y comprehend, gave them access t o mankind's s p i r i t u a l v a l u e s .

The e a r l i e s t B u l g a r i a n a l p h a b e t d e v i s e d by C o n s t a n t i n e - C y r i l was t h e G l a g o l i t i c , but a n o t h e r O l d Bulgarian a l p h a b e t , t h e C y r i l l i c , was i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e l a t e 9th o r e a r l y 10th c e n t u r y . L a t e r l i t e r a r y memoirs l i nk t h e r e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e g r a p h i c sys tem and t h e i n v e n t i o n o f C y r i l l i c c h a r a c t e r s w i t h t h e name o f K l i m e n t o f Ohrid: "He a l s o d e v i s e d o t h e r shapes of t h e l e t t e r s so as t o make them c l e a r e r than t h o s e i n v e n t e d by t h e w i s e C y r i l . . . l l ( D i m i t e r Khomathian, 13th c e n t u r y ) .

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With t h e t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h e f i r s t Greek l i t u r g i c a l t e x t s t h e b r o t h e r s C y r i l and M e t h o d i u s l a i d t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e O l d Bulgarian l i t e r a r y language, t h e f i r s t w r i t t e n l anguage i n t h e S l a v v e r n a c u l a r .

The i n c e p t i o n o f modern Bulgarian i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e name o f P a i s s y o f H i l e n d a r and h i s famous t lS lav -Bu lga r ian H i s t o r y t 1 (1762). F o r P a i s s y l anguage and p e o p l e were two i n d i v i s i b l e n o t i o n s . T h i s concep t a l s o u n d e r l a y t h e work o f a whole g r o u p o f d e v o t e d a r c h i t e c t s and de fenders o f t h e Bulgarian language. A f t e r Bulgaria's l i b e r a t i o n f r o m f i v e c e n t u r i e s o f Ottoman d o m i n a t i o n i n 1878, t h e l i t e r a r y lan- guage began d e v e l o p i n g rapidly, f o r t h e i ndependen t Bulgarian S t a t e needed a common n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y l anguage of i t s own.

The Bulgarian l i t e r a r y l anguage i s now among t h e most d e m o c r a t i c n a t i o n a l l a n g u a g e s i n t h e w o r l d . I t has i t s own s p e c i f i c f e a t u r e s , a r i c h and v a r i e d v e r b a l system and an e x c e p t i o n a l l y r i c h v o c a b u l a r y . Having embodied t h e h i s t o r i c a l e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e B u l g a r i a n peop le , i t i s one o f t h e o l d e s t and most p e r f e c t l y w r i t t e n l anguages i n t h e w o r l d today.

2. U n i f i c a t i o n and S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n o f T e r m i n o l o g y i n t h e T r a n s l a t i o n o f S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l L i t e r a t u r e I-

The c o l l e c t i n g and s p r e a d i n g o f new s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l t e r m s i s done by t h e U n i o n o f Bulgarian T r a n s l a t o r s (SPB).

I n 1979 t h e SPB B o a r d endorsed a 'IConcept o f t h e E s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a System o f S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l Te rm ino logy t t . The sys tem 's m a i n p u r p o s e i s t o c o l l e c t , s t a n d a r d i z e and t r a n s l a t e f o r e i g n t e r m i n o l o g y i n t o Bulgar ian i n a l l s e c t o r s o f t h e n a t i o n a l economy, as w e l l as t o t r a n s l a t e some s p e c i f i c B u l g a r i a n s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l t e r m s i n t o t h e m a i n f o r e i g n languages.

A C e n t r a l Commission of T e r m i n o l o g y has been s e t up s p e c i a l l y f o r t h e p u r p o s e a t t h e U n i o n o f Bulgarian T r a n s l a t o r s and among i t s members a r e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of t h e l o c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s concerned, such as t h e S t a t e Commit tee f o r Sc ience and T e c h n o l o g i c a l P r o g r e s s ( C e n t r a l I n s t i - t u t e of S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l I n f o r m a t i o n ) , t h e Bulgarian Language I n s t i t u t e o f t h e Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, t h e Commit tee o f S t a n d a r d i z a t i o n , publ ishing houses, e t c .

The Commission has a l r e a d y r e l e a s e d R u s s i a n - B u l g a r i a n and English- B u l g a r i a n l i s t s i n t h e f i e l d o f g e n e t i c s and an E n g l i s h - R u s s i a n l i s t o f t e r m s i n r o b o t e n g i n e e r i n g . L i s t s o f new t e r m s i n t h e f i e l d s o f e l e c t r o c h e m i s t r y , c o r r o s i o n , m i c r o - p r o c e s s o r t e c h n o l o g y and o t h e r a r e a s a r e b e i n g compi led. These l i s t s i n c l u d e new t e r m s i n t h e .

r e s p e c t i v e a r e a s w h i c h do n o t f i g u r e i n t h e B u l g a r i a n d i c t i o n a r i e s , manuals and o t h e r r e f e r e n c e books a v a i l a b l e . The t e r m s a r e a r r a n g e d a l p h a b e t i c a l l y and theise a r e a l p h a b e t i c a l i n d e x e s o f t h e Bulgarian t e r m s w i t h a d i g i t a l r e f e r e n c e t o t h e f o r e i g n term.

The U n i o n of Bulgar ian T r a n s l a t o r s a l s o p a r t i c i p a t e s i n t h e t e r m i n o l o g i c a l a c t i v i t y o f t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l F e d e r a t i o n o f T r a n s l a t o r s ( F I T ) and c o - o p e r a t e s w i t h n a t i o n a l t r a n s l a t o r s ' o r g a n i z a t i o n s e l s e - where.

The U n i o n ' s programme a l s o env i sages t h e s e t t i n g up o f a n a t i o n a l t e r m i n o l o g y bank w h i c h w o u l d p r o v i d e a r e l i a b l e groundwork f o r t h e com- p i l a t i o n o f s p e c i a l d i c t i o n a r i e s i n f u t u r e .

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3. L i t e r a r y C r i t i c i s m

The A p r i l 1956 p lenum o f t h e C e n t r a l Commit tee o f t h e B u l g a r i a n Communist P a r t y w a s v e r y i m p o r t a n t , b o t h f o r con tempora ry B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e and f o r t h e f a v o u r a b l e development o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m . The unanimous o p i n i o n o v e r t h e past q u a r t e r of a c e n t u r y s i n c e t h e p l e n u m has been t h a t t h i s turning p o i n t i n t h e n a t i o n ' s s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i f e a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e ove rcoming o f s e c t a r i a n d e v i a t i o n s and dogmat ic standards i n a e s t h e t i c thinking and t o t h e c r e a t i o n o f a genu ine c r e a t i v e atmosphere w h i c h gave f reedom o f e x p r e s s i o a t o a l l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m . C r i t i c i s m genres have become i n c r e a s i n g l y d i v e r s e . The i n t e l l e c t u a l l e v e l o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m and t h e e r u d i t i o n o f i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s have i n c r e a s e d . The scope of methods and means employed b y c r i t i c s has expanded. Q u e s t i o n s o f l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e a r e e l u c i d a t e d i n g r e a t e r de ta i l . w i t h much emphasis b e i n g l a i d o n t h e s e a r c h f o r t h e o r g a n i c l i nk between past and p r e s e n t i d e a s , between past and con tempora ry m o r a l and p h i l o s o p h i c a l problems.

A c o l l e c t i o n was p u b l i s h e d i n t h e S o v i e t U n i o n i n 1980 w i t h t h e a i m o f r e v i e w i n g t h e s t a t e o f con tempora ry l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m i n B u l g a r i a , s h e d d i n g l i g h t on t h e m a i n t r e n d s i n i t s development and r e - v e a l i n g t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s o f t h e a c t i v i t y o f some o f i t s l e a d i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . T h i s c o l l e c t i o n b e a r s t h e m e a n i n g f u l t i t l e " U n i t y and D i v e r s i t y f 1 . I t i s i n d e e d a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e r e a l a c h i e v e - ments o f p r e s e n t - d a y B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m : uni ty o f t h e d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r s o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e P a r t y ' s c u l t u r a l p o l i c y and t h e method o f s o c i a l i s t r e a l i s n , on t h e one hand, and v a r i e t y o f c r e a t i v e i n d i v i d u a l i t i e s , approaches t o a r t i s t i c phenomena and s t y l e s o f expres- s i o n , on t h e o t h e r .

I n t h e past few y e a r s t h i s g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c has been c o u p l e d w i t h a g r e a t e r s t r i v i n g a f t e r s y n t h e s i s and a l o f t i n e s s o f concepts. W h i l e t h i s i s l e s s consp icuous i n p r e s s p u b l i c a t i o n s i t i s c l e a r l y d is- c e r n i b l e i n books b y t h e d i f f e r e n t c r i t i c s , as w e l l as i n some c o l l e c - t i v e s t u d i e s , such as t h e two-volume p u b l i c a t i o n p r e p a r e d b y t h e L i t e r a r y Research I n s t i t u t e o f t h e Bulgarian Academy o f S c i e n c e s and d e v o t e d t o t h e development o f B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e f r o m t h e 1940s t o t h e e a r l y 1970s. B e i n g a f i r s t v e n t u r e , t h i s s u r v e y o f a l e n g t h y p e r i o d has some shor t comings , b?it i s a l s o a commendable a t t e m p t a t spanning t h e l a s t i n g d imens ions o f l i t e r a r y p rocesses , ove rccming t h e emp i r i sm o f f a c t s and a t Lending a p r o f o u n d meaning t o phenomena.

The three-vo lume I 1 H i c t o r y of B u l g a r i a n L i t e r a t u r e ? ' has a s i m i l a r a i m . I t has a l r e a d y been approved by t h e I n s t i t u t e o f L i t e r a r y Re- s e a r c h and w i l l go t o p r e s s soon. I t i s n o t a c o l l e c t i v e e f f o r t , but t h e work o f a s i n g l e a u t h o r , t h e young c r i t i c , S v e t l o z a r I g o v . The same tendency i s seen i n such monographic s t u d i e s o f r e c e n t y e a r s as IfThe Bulgar ian N o v e l a f t e r t h e N i n t h o f Septemberr1, by Toncho Zhechev, !?The H i s t o r i c a l N o v e l i n B u l g a r i a n L i t e r a t u r e " , b y G e o r g i Tsanev, T 'he B u l g a r i a n Marxist C r i t i c i s m and o u r N a t i o n a l L i t e r a t u r e ! ! , by G e o r g i Dimov, T h e B u l g a r i a n S h o r t S t o r i e s between t h e Two W o r l d Wars", b y M i h a i l V a s s i l e v and IlThe Modern Bulgar ian S h o r t Story11 b y t h e same a u t h o r , "The L i t e r a t u r e o f S o c i a l i s t Real ism", by V a s s i l K o l e v s k i , " A n A e s t h e t i c a l B r e a k t h r o u g h i n t h e P o e t r y o f t h e Twen t ies " , by R c z a l i a L i k o v a , ??The Contemporary B u l g a r i a n Novel f1 , by Boyan N ichev , I 1 B u l g a r i a n Symbolisrn1l, b y Simeon H a d j i k o s s e v , l l P h i l o s o p h i c a l P rob lems i n Bulgar ian Poe t ry? ! , b y Zd ravko Cholakov, and o t h e r s .

- 8 -

R e c e n t l y , t h e r e has been an i n c r e a s e i n t h e w r i t i n g o f monographs; t h e s e t a k e t h e f o r m o f d e t a i l e d s t u d i e s on l e a d i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e . The s a l i e n t f e a t u r e s o f t h e s e books i s an a t t e m p t t o draw a p i c t u r e o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l against t h e background of t h e c o u n t r y ' s o v e r a l l s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l and c u l t u r a l development, t o e s t a b l i s h a d i r e c t co r respondence between t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l and s o c i a l a s p i r a t i o n s o f t h e i n t e l l i g e n t s i a and t h e B u l g a r i a n s ' r e v o l u t i o n a r y s t r u g g l e s on t h e one hand, and t o t r e a t l i t e r a t u r e as an e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r and r e v e a l i t s d imens ions i n g r e a t e r d e p t h by l i t e r a r y means, o n t h e o t h e r . The comprehensive n a t u r e o f t h i s task i s p r e s e n t a l r e a d y i n works w h i c h appeared a l i t t l e e a r l i e r , such as IlPanorama o f B u l g a r i a n L i t e r a t u r e " by Academic ian P a n t e l e y Za rev and "The B u l g a r i a n E a s t e r o r B u l g a r i a n Pass ions t1 by Toncho Zhechev, and i n more r e c e n t t i m e s i n s u c h works o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m as IIDoomed t o I m m o r t a l i t y v 1 by Pencho Danchev, S t o y a n K a r o l e v ' s monograph o n Pencho S l a v e i k o v , E f r e m K a r a n f i l o v ' s s t u d i e s o n Z a h a r i Stoyanov and An ton S t r a s h i m i r o v , and i n s c o r e s o f o t h e r books.

I n d e s c r i b i n g t h e p r e s e n t s t a t e of l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m i n B u l g a r i a we must a l s o m e n t i o n i t s p r e d i l e c t i o n f o r documents, f o r a u t h e n t i c l i t e r a r y ev idence . T h e r e i s a p r e f e r e n c e f o r r e l i a b l e s o u r c e s w h i c h p r o v i d e f i rs t -hand i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t a w r i t e r ' s r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h s o c i e t y and w i t h t h e t i m e i n w h i c h he l i v e s and works. Memoirs o f l e a d i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e n a t i o n ' s l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e a r e again a p p r e c i a t e d and t h e i r t e x t s have been r e p u b l i s h e d . A l s o a w e l l orga- n i z e d programme f o r i n t e r v i e w i n g eminent con tempora ry B u l g a r i a n w r i t e r s has been put i n t o e f f e c t . S e v e r a l dozen p o l l - l i k e books have a l r e a d y appeared.

N a t u r a l l y enough, t h e b r o a d r e a d i n g p u b l i c i d e n t i f i e s t h e n o t i o n o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m w i t h a r t i c l e s w r i t t e n i n s p e c i a l c u l t u r a l , l i t e r a r y and o t h e r p e r i o d i c a l s and newspapers, as w e l l a s w i t h r e l e v a n t r a d i o and t e l e v i s i o n programmes. Some c o n t r a d i c t i o n s can, however, be observed. W h i l e i t i s u n d e n i a b l e t h a t g i f t e d and l e a r n e d c r i t i c s w i t h a f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d r e p u t a t i o n have made t h e i r mark i n t h i s k ind o f l i t e r a r y a c t i v i t y , t h e r e a r e a l s o t h o s e c a s u a l I f gues t p e r f o r m e r s v 1 and n o n e n t i t i e s who h e l p t o d i s c r e d i t it. T h e r e a r e a u t h o r s who a r e w i l l i n g t o c a t e r t o t h e t a s t e s o f t h e moment and t o pander t o t h e c r i t e r i o n o f one w r i t e r o r a n o t h e r . These weaknesses and s h o r t c o m i n g s o f c r i t i c i s m a r e corn- b a t t e d t h r o u g h p u b l i c o p p o s i t i o n and a sober analys is o f t h e f a c t s by t h e two main c e n t r e s o f l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m : t h e U n i o n o f Bulgarian W r i t e r s and t h e B u l g a r i a n Academy of S c i e n c e s ' I n s t i t u t e o f L i t e r a r y Re- search. A l l t h e more so because t h e y a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e m a i n pub- l i c a t i o n s d e a l i n g w i t h l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m . These p u b l i c a t i o n s a r e : t h e I l L i t e r a t o u r e n F r o n t v v newspaper, o r g a n o f t h e U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n W r i t e r s , a l a r g e - f o r m a t e i g h t - p a g e week ly w h i c h c o n t a i n s a c o n s i d e r a b l e number of a r t i c l e s , r e v i e w s , p r o f i l e s , su rveys , essays, i n t e r v i e w s , p a m p h l e t s and n o t e s ; t h e lvSeptemvril l and IvPlamukvv l i t e r a r y magazines w i t h r e g u l a r columns o n c r i t i c i s m and a w i d e r a n g e o f c o n t r i b u t o r s ; t h e llPoulsvl l i t e r a r y newspaper f o r young peop le , a week ly concerned mainly w i t h t h e p r o b l e m s o f t h e younger g e n e r a t i o n i n l i t e r a t u r e ; t h e I l L i t e r a t o u r n a Missu lvv and I l L i t e r a t o u r n a I s t o r i a I I magazines o f t h e Bulgarian Academy of S c i e n c e s ' I n s t i t u t e o f L i t e r a r y Research: t h e l i t e r a r y almanacs p u b l i s h e d i n t h e b i g p r o v i n c i a l c i t i e s o f P l o v d i v ( " T r a k i a Almanacvv), Bourgas (vvMoré Almanacvv), S t a r a Zagora ( v lHor izont Almanacv1), Gabrova ( v v Z o r n i t s a Almanacv1), Vratsa ( v v O k o l c h i t s a AlmanacII) , V e l i k o Tu rnovo ("Yantra Almanacvv), e t c .

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The d a i l i e s publ ishing c r i t i c a l t e x t s most f r e q u e n t l y a r e t h e l lOtechestven F r o n t " and t h e V e c h e r n i N o v i n i 1 I , as w e l l as t h e "Rabotn ichesko D e l o " w h i c h a l s o d e a l s w i t h some k e y a s p e c t s o f l i t e r a r y development. The I1ABCf1 weekly , w h i c h i s e n t i r e l y concerned w i t h t h e l i t e r a r y o u t p u t , n o t o n l y o f f e r s i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t new books, but a l s o runs r e g u l a r columns o n c r i t i c i s m i n w h i c h i t g rades a e s t h e t i c works and t r e a t s t h e t y p i c a l d i s t i n c t i o n s between d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r s ' a r t i s t i c en- deavours, t h e i r i nd iv idua l s t y l e , and so on. A more l a s t i n g c o n t a c t w i t h l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m has been e s t a b l i s h e d by Bulgarian Rad io , but t h e t e l e v i s i o n i s s t i l l l o o k i n g f o r a p p r o p r i a t e f o r m s o f c o n t a c t and seems t o b e more p a s s i v e and n o t r e a l l y i n t o u c h w i t h t h e l i v e atmosphere o f t h e l i t e r a r y p rocess .

By and l a r g e , l i t e r a r y c r i t i c s i n B u l g a r i a have e v e r y o p p o r t u n i t y f o r c r e a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n - b o t h i n t e r m s o f publ ishing t h e i r books and o f having t h e i r a r t i c l e s and r e v i e w s p r i n t e d i n a nuaber o f newspapers and p e r i o d i c a l s . S t a t i s t i c s show that a b o u t f i f t y books by d i f f e r e n t l i t e r a r y c r i t i c s appeased i n 1980 a lone , and t h i s l e v e l o f o u t p u t i s ex- p e c t e d t o r e m a i n l a r g e l y unchanged u n t i l 1985.

4. A u t h o r s and T r a n s l a t o r s . Forms o f Encouragement

W r i t e r s and t r a n s l a t o r s i n B u l g a r i a a r e n o t r e s t r i c t e d i n any way i n t h e i r a r t i s t i c a c t i v i t i e s . The e d u c a t i o n , upbringing and t h e who le i n t e l l e c t u a l advancement o f s o c i e t y and t h e i n d i v i d u a l a r e a p r i m e con- c e r n f o r t h e p o l i c y o f t h e S t a t e w h i c h has p r o c l a i m e d them i t s p r i n c i p a l v a l u e . Moreover , t h e S t a t e n o t o n l y c a l l s f o r t h e a t t a i n m e n t o f t h e s e g o a l s b u t works a c t i v e l y f o r t h e i r r e a l i z a t i o n . I t has s e t up a sys tem o f s t i m u l i f o r e n c o u r a g i n g c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y , c o n s i d e r i n g i t s o c i a l l y necessary. S p e c i a l laws have been e n a c t e d f o r t h e purpose.

I n g e n e r a l t e rms , t h e s e s t i m u l i c a n b e d e s c r i b e d as f o l l o w s :

- s t a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s and p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n s have been g r a n t e d r i g h t s and f i n a n c i a l p o s s i b i l i t i e s t o s ign c o n t r a c t s w i t h a u t h o r s f o r t h e w r i t i n g o f works t h e y need;

- t h e r e i s a s p e c i a l l a w o n c r e a t i v e funds ( p u b l i s h e d i n t h e " S t a t e Gazette' ! , i s s u e No. 27 o f 3 A p r i l 1973, w i t h amendments p u b l i s h e d i n t h e same newspaper 's i s s u e No. 20 o f 9 March 1979) , whose p u r p o s e i s t o s t i m u l a t e c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y and t o h e l p i m - p l e m e n t t h e S t a t e p o l i c y i n t h e s p h e r e o f c u l t u r e , a r t s and sc ience . Such funds have been s e t up w i t h t h e c o u n t r y ' s c u l - t u r a l u n i o n s , namely t h o s e o f B u l g a r i a n w r i t e r s , a r t i s t s , compo- s e r s , f i l m makers, j o u r n a l i s t s , a c t o r s , m u s i c i a n s , s c i e n t i s t s , a r c h i t e c t s , t r a n s l a t o r s , and t h e Commit tee o f C u l t u r e .

The funds a r e r a i s e d by d e d u c t i n g a p e r c e n t a g e f r o m t h e a u t h o r s ' fees, f r o m t h e r e t a i l p r i c e s o f books and, i n g e n e r a l , f r o m t h e r e v e n u e s o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n s and i n s t i t u t i o n s using t h e a u t h o r s ' works. The Committee o f C u l t u r e has i s s u e d a s p e c i a l i n s t r u c t i o n o n t h e implementa- t i o n o f t h e l a w o n c r e a t i v e funds and o n t h e s o u r c e s o f money f ó r t h e d i f f e r e n t funds.

- 10 - These funds a r e used:

- f o r r e v i e w s , f e s t i v a l s , c o n t e s t s and o t h e r n a t i o n a l and i n t e r - n a t i o n a l u n d e r t a k i n g s f o r t h e p r o m o t i o n o f a r t , c u l t u r e and s c i e n c e ;

- f o r p r o v i d i n g n a t e r i a l c o n d i t i o n s ( c o n t r a c t s , t r a v e l , i n v e s t i g a - t i o n s , e t c . ) f o r tk.e c r e a t i o n o f l i t e r a r y , a r t i s t i c and s c i e n t i - f i c works o f high i d e o l o g i c a l , a r t i s t i c and s c i e n t i f i c qual i ty , and f o r s t i m u l a t i n g a , r t i s t i c s k i l l s ;

- f o r a i d i n g i n d i v i d u a l i n t e l l e c t u a l s i n t h e i r c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y , f o r f o r e i g n exchanges, g r a n t s arid s c h o l a r s h i p s , awards, etc.;

- f o r s c c i a l i nsu rance , h o l i d a y s and r e c r e a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s , pens ions , e t c .

A n a u t h o r o r t r a n s l a t o r can r e c e i v e , t h e r e f o r e , an o r d e r t o w r i t e o r t r a n s l a t e a work f o r w h i c h h e i s remunera ted as a f i r s t e d i t i o n o r t h e f e e i s d i s t r i b u t e d i n m o n t h l y payments. Upon p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s work t h e a u t h o r o r t r a n s l a t o r i s e n t i t l e d t o f u r t h e r r e m u n e r a t i o n i n accordance w i t h t h e pay r a t e s f o r a u t h o r s ' , e x e c u t i v e and o t h e r c r e a t i v e l a b o u r w h i c h have been endorsed by t h e C o u n c i l o f M i n i s t e r s o f t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c o f Bulgaria.

Thus, t h e m a t e r i a l and c r e a t i v e i n t e r e s t s o f a u t h o r s and transla- t o r s a r e p r o t e c t e d t h r o u g h t h e i r membership i n t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l asso- c i a t i o n s ( t h e U n i o n s o f B u l g a r i a n W r i t e r s , S c i e n t i s t s , J o u r n a l i s t s o r T r a n s l a t o r s ) . O n t h e o t h e r hand, t h r o u g h t h e c r e a t i v e funds t h e y a r e guaran teed f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t i n w r i t i n g o r t rans lat ing t h e r e s p e c t i v e works, and can a l s o a v a i l themse lves o f t h e pa t ronage , as i t were, o f i n s t i t u t i o n s and p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n s w h i c h assign them t h e task o f c r e a t i n g works u n d e r t h e same f a v o u r a b l e terms.

The system of pay r a t e s a l s o a c t s as a s t i m u l a t i o n f o r a u t h o r s and t r a n s l a t o r s . A t p r e s e n t t h e r e a r e n i n e such pay r a t e s based on t h e way i n w h i c h an a u t h o r ' s work i s used and t h e s p e c i f i c t y p e o f c r e a t i v e work i n v o l v e d . These r a t e s a r e f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g : 1) Prose and p o e t r y ; 2) S c i e n t i f i c l i t e r a t u r e ; 3) D i c t i o n a r i e s , encyc lopaed ias , manuals; 4) B i b l i o g r a p h y , s c i e n t i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n ; 5) Tex tbooks and o t h e r s ; 6) . T r a n s l a t i o n o f f i c t i o n , s c i e n t i f i c and o t h e r l i t e r a t u r e ; 7) Musi- c a l works; 8) I l l u s t r a t i o n , photography , r e v i e w s , e d i t i n g , p r o o f - r e a d i n g , e t c .

Two kinds o f r e m u n e r a t i o n a r e p r o v i d e d f o r : t h e main payment w h i c h i s guaran teed t o t h e a u t h o r w i th in t h e amount s e t i n t h e pay r a t e s and de te rm ined by s p e c i a l i s t s and t h e p u b l i s h e r f o r a s ing le work, and a pe rcen tage o f t h e r e t a i l p r i c e o f each copy so ld . I n t h i s way , t h e appraisal o f t h e p u b l i s h e r and s p e c i a l i s t s who have recommended t h e work and t h e p u b l i c ' s appraisal a r e combined. These a r e again l e g i s l a t i v e l y endorsed s t i m u l i d e s i g n a t e d t o g i v e t h e a u t h o r n o t o n l y f i n a n c i a l but a l s o m o r a l suppor t .

T h i s s y s t e m o f m o r a l s t i m u l a t i o n w h i c h has been s e t up under t h e S t a t e C o u n c i l decree, as w e l l as i t s c o n s t a n t i m p l e m e n t a t i o n s h o u l d a l s o be t a k e n i n t o accoun t when s p e a k i n g o f t h e status o f a u t h o r s and trans- l a t o r s i n B u l g a r i a .

T h i s system w h i c h o f t e n combines m o r a l i n c e n t i v e w i t h i t s m a t e r i a l e q u i v a l e n t a p p l i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y f rom t h e l o c a l t o t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l .

- 11 - 5. P r o f e s s i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s

The B u l g a r i a n w r i t e r s have t h e i r u n i o n , a c r e a t i v e p u b l i c o r g a n i z a - t i o n based o n t h e p r i n c i p l e of v o l u n t a r y membership. The U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n W r i t e r s (SBP) w a s founded i n 1913 t o p r o t e c t t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l and c r e a t i v e i n t e r e s t s o f i t s members. By o r g a n i z i n g , unit ing and guiding t h e men o f l e t t e r s and by h e l p i n g and s t imu la t i ng t h e m i n t h e i r a c t i v i t y , t h e SBP c o n t r i b u t e s i n a t a n g i b l e way t o t h e ach ievemen ts and w e a l t h o f B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e .

More s p e c i f i c a l l y , t h e U n i o n ' s tasks a r e t o s t r e n g t h e n t k e l i n k s between t h e w r i t e r s and t h e p e o p l e ; t o draw t h e w r i t e r s ' a t t e n t i o n t o contemporary t o p i c s and t o t h e p e o p l e as b u i l d e r s o f p r e s e n t - d a y s o c i a l i s t Bulgar ia; t o f u r t h e r t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f s o c i a l i s t r e a l i s m , t o deve lop l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m , t h e o r y and h i s t o r y f r o m t h e v i e w p o i n t o f Marxism-Leninism; t o ass i s t t h e exchange o f p r o f e s s i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e between w r i t e r s and t o p r o v i d e c o n d i t i o n s f o r c r e a t i v e deba tes and d is- cuss ions , c r i t i c i s m and s e l f - c r i t i c i s m ; t o a i d t h e g r o w t h o f young t a l e n t s ; t o d e f e n d t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l r i g h t s and i n t e r e s t s o f w r i t e r s ; t o improve t h e i r m a t e r i a l and l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s and t h e i r s o c i a l and l e g a l status, e t c .

The U n i o n o f Bulgarian W r i t e r s i s an independen t body c o r p o r a t e s u p p o r t i n g i t s e l f w i t h i t s own revenues. I t ha.s a b o u t 350 members. The U n i o n ' s supreme o r g a n i s i t s Congress w h i c h i s h e l d e v e r y f o u r yea rs . The Congress e l e c t s a B o a r d and an Audi t ing Commission. The Board e l e c t s f rom among i t s members a Bureau w h i c h i s i n charge o f t h e o p e r a t i v e management o f t h e U n i o n ' s a f f a i r s .

The SBP has a C r e a t i v e Fund and a S t u d i o o f Young W r i t e r s , as w e l l as s e c t i o n s f o r p r o s e , p o e t r y , c r i t i c i s m , c h i l d r e n ' s and t e e n a g e r s ' l i t e r a t u r e , dramaturgy and s c r i p t - w r i t i n g . The s e c t i o n s a r e i m p o r t a n t e lements i n t h e U n i o n ' s a c t i v i t y . They h o l d m e e t i n g s and d i s c u s s i o n s , exchange c r e a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e and p r o p o s e t h e a d m i s s i o n o f new members. The p o p u l a r i z a t i o n of B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e a b r o a d i s e n t r u s t e d t o a s p e c i a l l y a p p o i n t e d commission. L o c a l SBP s o c i e t i e s have been s e t up i n t h e c o u n t r y ' s m a j o r c i t i e s .

The U n i o n runs i t s own n e t w o r k o f h o l i d a y f a c i l i t i e s , I t has i t s own publishing house c a l l e d IIBulgarski P i s s a t e l i l and p u b l i s h e s a number o f l i t e r a r y newspapers and p e r i o d i c a l s s u c h as t h e W i t e r a t o u r e n Front11 and llPoulsll newspapers and t h e l lSepternvril l , flPlamukll, llSuvremennik11, " K a r t i n n a G a l e r i a l ! and l lS laveichel l magazines, t h e ' l rak ia f1 , I1Morét1, l lHorizontl l , "YantraI1 and o t h e r almanacs .

The U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n T r a n s l a t o r s , a c u l t u r a l and p r o f e s s i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , i s an a s s o c i a t i o n o f p u b l i c l y r e c o g n i z e d t r a n s l a t o r s o f f i c t i o n , s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l , s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l . l i t e r a t u r e , s imulta- neous and c o n s e c u t i v e i n t e r p r e t e r s and t h e t h e o r e t i c i a n s , h i s t o r i a n s and c r i t i c s o f t r a n s l a t o r s . I t has been s e t up t o ensu re a high p r o - f e s s i o n a l l e v e l o f t r a n s l a t i o n i n B u l g a r i a .

The supreme o r g a n of t h e U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n T r a n s l a t o r s (SPB) i s i t s Congress w h i c h i s h e l d e v e r y f i v e yea rs . The Congress e l e c t s t h e Board and t h e C o n t r o l Commission o f t h e Union.

- 12 - The SPB has s e c t i o n s f o r f i c t i o n , s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e ,

s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e , s imu l taneous and c o n s e c u t i v e i n t e r - p r e t a t i o n and t h e o r y , h i s t o r y and c r i t i c i s m o f t r a n s l a t i o n . I t a l s o has seven d i s t r i c t s o c i e t i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y ' s m a j o r c i t i e s .

A S t u d i o o f Young T r a n s l a t o r s and a C r e a t i v e Fund have been s e t up a t t h e Un ion .

The SPB i s s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g ; i t s revenues come f r o m membership fees , a p e r c e n t a g e f r o m t h e s a l e o f t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e , incomes f r o m i t s own u n d e r t a k i n g s and o t h e r sources.

- 13 - II . PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES

1. P u b l i s h i n g Houses

I n Bu lgar ia t h e r e a r e twen ty -seven publ ishing houses. T h i r t e e n o f t h e m a r e s t a t e ones w h i c h means tha t t h e y a r e e n t i r e l y s t a t e - r u n - i n t e r m s o f themes, s t a f f and f i n a n c e s . The r e m a i n i n g f o u r t e e n a r e owned b y p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n s , c u l t u r a l u n i o n s , m i n i s t r i e s o r o t h e r ins t i tu - t i o n s . T w e n t y - f i v e o f a l l t h e p u b l i s h i n g houses a r e based i n t h e c a p i t a l S o f i a ; t h e " H r i s t o G. Danovl' publ ishing house i s based i n P l o v d i v , and t h e "Georg i B a k a l o v " publ ishing house i n Varna.

The s ta te -owned p u b l i s h i n g houses a r e "Naouka i I z k o u s t v o l l , 'INarodna P r o s v e t a f t , l fTechnikal l , "Narodna K o u l t o u r a " , ~ ~ Z e m i z d a t ~ ~ , " M e d i t s i n a i F i z k o u l t o u r a l l , "Mouzikall, 11OtechestvoI1, "Septemvri" , "Dr . P e t e r Beron", llSvyatll, " H r i s t o G. Danov" and " G e o r g i Bakalov". The "Dr. P e t e r Beron" and "SvyatI1 publ ishing houses a r e new and have been f u n c t i o n i n g s i n c e t h e b e g i n n i n g o f 1982. p u b l i c a t i o n o f d i c t i o n a r i e s and o t h e r r e f e r e n c e books and t h e l a t t e r i n t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e i n f o r e i g n languages.

The f o r m e r s p e c i a l i z e s i n t h e

P u b l i c publ ishing houses and t h o s e owned by v a r i o u s e s t a b l i s h m e n t s i n c l u d e l l P a r t i z d a t f l ( C e n t r a l Commit tee o f t h e B u l g a r i a n Communist Par ty) , "Narodna Mladezh" ( C e n t r a l Commit tee o f t h e D i m i t r o v Young Communist League), l l B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l " ( U n i o n o f Bulgar ian W r i t e r s ) , "Voenno I z d a t e l s t v o t l ( M i n i s t r y o f N a t i o n a l Defence) , " P r o f i z d a t f l ( C e n t r a l C o u n c i l of t h e B u l g a r i a n T r a d e U n i o n s ) , l tOtechestven F r o n t " ( N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l of t h e F a t h e r l a n d F r o n t ) , l l I z d a t e l s t v o na BZNS" ( S t a n d i n g Com- m i t t e e o f t h e B u l g a r i a n Agrarian P a r t y ) , " I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN" ( B u l g a r i a n Academy of Sc iences ) , "Bulgarski Houdozhnik" ( U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n A r t i s t s ) , " I z d a t e l s t v o na A g e n t s i a S o f i a - P r e s s ( l lSof ia-Pressf l Agency), "S inoda lno I z d a t e l s t v o f 1 ( t h e H o l y Synod of t h e Bulgarian Or thodox Church), l lBoulgarreklamalf ( I1Reklama11 economic o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e M i n i - s t r y o f Home T rade and S e r v i c e s ) and l l S t a n d a r t i z a t s i a l l ( S t a t e Commit tee f o r S c i e n c e and T e c h n o l o g i c a l P r o g r e s s ) .

The m a i n publ ishing houses w h i c h ensu re t h e bulk o f t h e c o u n t r y - 5 o u t p u t o f books and p l a y a k e y r o l e i n s a t i s f y i n g t h e p u b l i c demand f o r books a r e I1Technika1l, "Naouka i Izkous tvo l l , " P a r t i z d a t 1 ! , I I B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l 1 I , "Narodna K o u l t o u r a V 1 , "Narodna P r o s v e t a " , "Narodna Mladezh1I, " M e d i t s i n a i F i z k o u l t o u r a " , ltOtechestvoll, llZemizdatll, Y l k d a t e l s t v o na BAN", " P r o f i z d a t l l , V o e n n o I z d a t e l s t v o l ' , "O teches tven F r o n t t 1 , ' I B u l g a r s k i Houdozhnik1I, "H r i s t o G . Danovl', "Georg i Bakalov' l , ' ISof i a - P r e s s " and "Sept e m v r i " .

I n volume of p r o d u c t i o n , i .e. i n t e r m s o f t h e number o f t i t l e s r e - l e a s e d p e r year, t h e amount o f paper u s e d and t o t a l commodity p roduc - t i o n , t h e l e a d i n g publishing houses a r e "Narodna Prosve ta " , "Technika", "Narodna K o u l t o u r a T 1 , l lPar t izdat l l , "Naouka i I z k o u s t v o f l , l l B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l t l , Narodna Mladezh", l lMedi ts ina i F i z k o u l t o u r a " , ' I H r i s t o G. Danov1I and llOtechestvoll .

The s i z e and s t r u c t u r e o f t h e publ ishing houses d i f f e r c o n s i d e r a b l y . The s m a l l e s t have a p e r s o n n e l o f a b o u t a dozen p e o p l e , and t h e l a r g e s t a b o u t 150. The s e n i o r m a n a g e r i a l p o s t s i n a publ ishing house a r e t h o s e o f t h e d i r e c t o r , d e p u t y d i r e c t o r and e d i t o r - i n - c h i e f .

- 14 - The d i r e c t o r i s i n c h a r g e of t h e p u b l i s h i n g house 's e n t i r e a c t i v i t y

and b e a r s f u l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r i t . The d e p u t y d i r e c t o r i s h i5 pr in- c i p a l assistant i n t h e f i e l d s o f f i n a n c e , b u s i n e s s and p r o d u c t i o n . The e d i t o r - i n - c h i e f i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e p r a c t i c a l work - s e l e c t i o n o f themes and a u t h o r s , c o n t e n t s o f t h e o u t p u t and o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e e d i t o r i a l and publishing work.

Each p u b l i s h i n g house has i t s own f u n c t i o n a l depar tmen ts o r sec- t i o n s f o r planning, p r o d u c t i o n , l e g a l m a t t e r s , a c c o u n t i n g , p r o o f - r e a d i n g and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , e t c . The e d i t o r i a l uni ts a r e t h e most i m - p o r t a n t ones. I t i s t h e r e that t h e planning o f t h e themes b e g i n s and t h e a u t h o r ' s m a n u s c r i p t i s p r e p a r e d f o r publishing. Each publishing house has s e v e r a l e d i t o r i a l s e c t i o n s w h i c h a r e s p e c i a l i z e d i n acco rdance w i t h t h e p r o f i l e o f t h e publ ishing house i t s e l f . Each o f them has a book d e s i g n and l a y o u t depar tment . Fou r publishing houses a l s o have c a l l i g r a p h i c depar tmen ts , and t h e llMouzikall publishing house has a music pr in t ing depar tment .

P l a n n i n g i s done o n a two-year basis. The t h e m a t i c and f i n a n c i a l a s p e c t s o f t h e s e plans a r e r e v i e w e d c o n t i n u o u s l y , up t o t w e n t y days b e f o r e a book goes t o t h e p ress . S i n c e most o f t h e publ ishing houses do n o t have pr in t ing f a c i l i t i e s of t h e i r own, t h e y sign annual and three-month c o n t r a c t s w i t h t h e p r i n t i ng e n t e r p r i s e s . The books a r e s o l d t h r o u g h t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n s o f a s p e c i a l commerc ia l e n t e r p r i s e c a l l e d l tKnigorazprostraneniel l .

A c c o r d i n g t o Bulgar ian p r a c t i c e , t h e main f i g u r e i n a publ ishing house i s t h e e d i t o r . He e s t a b l i s h e s c o n t a c t and k e e p s i n t o u c h w i t h a u t h o r s , plans t h e books i n h i s t h e m a t i c group, e v a l u a t e s m a n u s c r i p t s f r o m t h e p o i n t o f v i e w o f c o n t e n t , f i n a n c e s , d e s t i n a t i o n , etc., a r r a n g e s f o r t h e e d i t i n g o f t h e m a n u s c r i p t s a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n and s e c u r e s e d i t o r s who a r e n o t o n t h e p a y r o l l , s i n c e i n B u l g a r i a o n l y h a l f o f t h e books publ ished a r e e d i t e d by e d i t o r s o n t h e r e g u l a r p a y r o l l o f publish- ing houses. The o t h e r s a r e e d i t e d by o u t s i d e c o n t r i b u t i n g s p e c i a l i s t s .

The d i f f e r e n t kinds o f l i t e r a t u r e a r e p u b l i s h e d by d i f f e r e n t pub- l i s h i n g houses as f o l l o w s :

F i c t i o n : W a r o d n a K o u l t o u r a 1 I ( t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e o n l y ) , I I B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l t 1 ( o r i g i n a l B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e o n l y ) , l l H r i s t o G. Danovll, "Georg i Bakalovt l , I 1 P a r t i z d a t l 1 , I I P r o f i z d a t l lOtechestven F r o n t " , "Narodna Mladezh" , " I z d a t e l s t v o na BZNSII , V o e n n o I z d a t e l s t v o l l , "Svya t f l and "Sof i a - P r e s s l l .

L i t e r a t u r e f o r c h i l d r e n and teenagers : I fOtechestvo" , "Narodna Mladezh1I , l l B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l l ! , I 1 B u l g a r s k i Houdozhnikl l , llSvyatll, " G e o r g i Bakalov" , V o e n n o I z d a t e l s t v o " , l lSofia-Press".

L i t e r a r y t h e o r y and c r i t i c i s m : Waouka i I z k o u s t v o l f , " B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l V 1 , " I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN", l lPar t izdat l l , "Narodna Mladezh",

T e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e : llTechnikall, " I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN", "Georg i B a k a l o v " , "Sof ia-Presst l .

M e d i c a l l i t e r a t u r e . S p o r t s and t o u r i s t l i t e r a t u r e : W e d i t s i n i F i z k o u l t o u r a " .

- 15 - N a t u r a l s c i e n c e s : "Naouka i I z k o u s t v o t l , l l I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN",

l lSofia-Presslt, l l H r i s t o G. Danov", "Georg i BakalovlI , t tSvyatt l .

A g r i c u l t u r e and f o r e s t r y : llZemizdatll, l l I e d a t e l s t v o na BAN", t lSof i a - P r e s s f t .

S o c i a l sc iences . P o l i t i c s : "Naouka i I z k o u s t v o " , l tPa r t i zda t l l , "Narodna MladezhII, l tProf izdat l l , "O teches tven F r o n t t 1 , I f I z d a t e l s t v o na BXNS", V o e n n o I e d a t e l s t v o l l , I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN", "Pe te r Beron!!, " S o f i a - Press1', llSvyattl, tlSeptemvrirl.

A r t l i t e r a t u r e : IINaouka i I z k o u s t v o t t , l l I z d a t e l s t v o na BAN", "Bulgarski Houdozhnikt l , llSept ernvriv1, llMouzikall.

Tex tbooks , t e a c h i n g aids: "Narodna P r o s v e t a " ( a l l t e x t b o o k s , manuals and t e a c h i n g a ids f o r t h e comprehensive secondary p o l y t e c h n i c s c h o o l s ) . Tex tbooks f o r v o c a t i o n a l s c h o o l s and e s t a b l i s h m e n t s o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a r e p u b l i s h e d by IlNaouka i I z k o u s t v o t l , t tTechnikafl , I tZemizdatt t , " M e d i t s i n a i F i z k o u l t o u r a 1 I , I1Mouzikaf1 and "Georg i BakalovI1. The publ ishing houses o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s and p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n s r e l e a s e s p e c i a l i z e d l i t e r a t u r e f o r c i r c l e s , seminars, e t c .

2 . S t a t e o f Book P u b l i s h i n g

a) S c h o o l books

E d u c a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e a c c o u n t s f o r a b i g s h a r e o f t h e o u t p u t . The 1970-1980 p e r i o d saw t h e appearance o f 9,586 t i t l e s w i t h an ave rage annual p r i n t run o f 10-15 m i l l i o n cop ies . B o t h t h e number o f t i t l e s (an ave rage o f 850-900 a y e a r ) and t h e t o t a l p r i n t run o f s c h o o l l i t e r a - t u r e vary e v e r y yea r , depend ing o n t h e needs o f p u b l i c e d u c a t i o n , t h e number of s t u d e n t s a t t h e d i f f e r e n t kinds o f s c h o o l s , t h e o p e n i n g o f new e s t a b l i s h m e n t s o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , e t c .

The s c h o o l l i t e r a t u r e i s d i v i d e d i n t o s e v e r a l g roups : t e x t b o o k s f o r t h e h i g h e r and semi -h jghe r e s t a b l i s h m e n t s o f l e a r n i n g ( t h e l a r g e s t s h a r e ) ; t e x t b o o k s f o r t h e u n i f i e d secondary p o l y t e c h n i c s c h o o l s and f o r t h e v o c a t i o n a l s c h o o l s ; s c h o o l m e t h o d o l o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e f o r t e a c h e r s ? s t u d e n t s and s p e c i a l i s t s .

I ' The H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n C o u n c i l o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f E d u c a t i o n , w h i c h i s

t h e supreme m a n a g e r i a l o r g a n o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n i n Bulgaria, o r d e r s e v e r y y e a r t h e t e x t b o o k s f o r t h e r e s p e c t i v e e s t a b l i s h m e n t s o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , f a c u l t i e s and s u b j e c t s . The M i n i s t r y o f E d u c a t i o n o r d e r s t h e n e c e s s a r y t e x t b o o k s f o r t h e u n i f i e d secondary p o l y t e c h n i c s c h o o l s , v o c a t i o n a l s c h o o l s , f o r e i g n - l a n g u a g e courses, e t c . The m e t h o d o l o g i c a l s c h o o l l i t e r a t u r e i s p u b l i s h e d l i k e any o t h e r l i t e r a t u r e .

For t e n y e a r s now s t u d e n t s have been r e c e i v i n g f r e e t e x t b o o k s f o r use o v e r a t h r e e - y e a r p e r i o d . A f t e r t h e e x p i r y o f t h i s p e r i o d each t e x t b o o k i s d i s c u s s e d and an i m p r o v e d v e r s i o n p u b l i s h e d t o l a s t f o r f i v e t o s i x yea rs , o r more. I n t h i s way B u l g a r i a n f a m i l i e s a r e r e - l i e v e d o f t h e n e c e s s i t y t o buy t e x t b o o k s f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n , huge quan- t i t i e s o f p a p e r a r e saved and s t u d e n t s d e v e l o p a c a r e f u l a t t i t u d e t o t h e t e x t b o o k s w h i c h t h e y have t o hand o v e r t o t h e i r younger s c h o o l mates t h e f o l l o w i n g year .

A new s y s t e m o f secondary and h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n was i n t r o d u c e d i n 1981 w h i c h e n t a i l s new and q u a l i t a t i v e l y h i g h e r standards f o r s c h o o l l i t e r a t u r e .

- 16 - b ) F i c t i o n

F i c t i o n f o r adul ts i s i s s u e d by t e n publ ishing houses, t h r e e o f w h i c h a l s o publ ish books o n l i t e r a r y t h e o r y and c r i t i c i s m . Two s p e c i a l i z e ex- c l u s i v e l y i n t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f p r o s e and p o e t r y : l l B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l " - f o r c l a s s i c and modern B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e , and "Narodna Kou l tou ra l l - f o r t r a n s l a t e d f i c t i o n . I n t h e r e m a i n i n g e i g h t , t h e t h e m a t i c r a n g e o f f i c - t i o n i s i n acco rdance w i t h t h e m a i n p u r p o s e and c h a r a c t e r o f each publish- ing house.

These p u b l i s h i n g houses co -opera te c l o s e l y w i t h t h e U n i o n o f B u l g a r i a n W r i t e r s , t h e U n i o n o f Bulgarian T r a n s l a t o r s and r e s e a r c h i n s t i - t u t e s . The t h e m a t i c plans a r e worked o u t w i t h t h e h e l p o f a w i d e r a n g e of s p e c i a l i s t s - w r i t e r s , t r a n s l a t o r s , l i t e r a r y t h e o r e t i c i a n s and c r i t i c s .

The development o f f i c t i o n o v e r t h e 1970-1980 p e r i o d shows a m a r k e d l y p o s i t i v e tendency w h i c h i s exp ressed i n a rap id g r o w t h o f p r in t runs, f r o m 8,324,000 t o 18,616,000, and a s l o w e r i n c r e a s e i n t h e number o f t i t l e s , from 609 t o 727. T h i s tendency r e f l e c t s an e f f o r t t o . m e e t t h e demand f o r r e a l l y good f i c t i o n and l i m i t t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f i n f e r i o r works.

F i c t i o n o c c u p i e s a f o r e m o s t p l a c e i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f book publ ishing i n B u l g a r i a . c e n t o f a l l t h e t i t l e s p u b l i s h e d , f o r 31.3 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l p r in t run and f o r 4.5 p e r c e n t o f t h e p a p e r u s e d i n t e r m s o f s h e e t o f t h e run.

The 1981 s t a t i s t i c s show that i t accoun ted f o r 16.7 p e r

I n a d d i t i o n , t h e r a t i o between o r i g i n a l and t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e has i m p r o v e d and so has that between c l a s s i c s and modern a u t h o r s ; t h e s h a r e o f m u l t i - v o l u m e e d i t i o n s and o f books w h i c h have gone i n t o more than one e d i t i o n has i n c r e a s e d t o r e s p o n d more e f f e c t i v e l y t o t h e demands and in- t e r e s t s o f r e a d e r s .

N a t u r a l l y , m a i n a t t e n t i o n i s d e v o t e d t o o r i g i n a l f i c t i o n . S t a t i s - t i c s o f r e c e n t y e a r s show t h a t by t h e number o f t i t l e s i t makes up abou t 62 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e f i c t i o n p u b l i s h e d i n t h e c o u n t r y . The n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e i s p r e s e n t e d i n d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f e d i t i o n : academic comp le te works, m u l t i - v o l u m e e d i t i o n s , de - luxe i l l u s t r a t e d e d i t i o n s , s e r i e s , paperback e d i t i o n s f o r t h e needs o f s t u d e n t s , e t c . The works o f Bo tev , Vazov, E l i n P e l i n , Yovkov, Yavorov, S m i r n e n c k i , ' V a p t s a r o v and o t h e r a u t h o r s a r e o f t e n p u b l i s h e d i n 80,000-150,000 c o p i e s each - huge runt by B u l g a r i a n standards.

The works o f con tempora ry B u l g a r i a n w r i t e r s p r e d o m i n a t e i n t h e t h e m a t i c programmes o f Bulgarian publ ishing houses. a c c o u n t e d f o r 50.4 p e r c e n t o f a l l t i t l e s and f o r 29 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l p r in t run. The c o n t i n u o u s q u a n t i t a t i v e g r o w t h o f e d i t i o n s o f modern o r i g i n a l l i t e r a t u r e i s a sign o f t h e publ ishing houses ' e f f o r t s t o advance t h e n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y p rocess .

I n 1981 t h e y

\

Bulgarian publ ishing houses a l s o o f f e r t h e young l i t e r a r y g e n e r a t i o n c o n d i t i o n s and o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r c r e a t i v e exp ress ion . B e s i d e s t h e numerous l i t e r a r y a lmanacs w h i c h o f f e r t h e i r pages m o s t l y t o young a u t h o r s f r o m d i f f e r e n t r e g i o n s o f t h e c o u n t r y , between 25 and 30 debu t books - prose , p o e t r y and c r i t i c i s m - a r e p u b l i s h e d e v e r y year . The "Narodna Mladezh", I 1 H r i s t o G. Danovfl and "Georg i Baka lov " publ ishing houses have s e t up s p e c i a l s e r i e s o f f i r s t books by young a u t h o r s .

- 17 - c ) L i t e r a t u r e f o r C h i l d r e n and A d o l e s c e n t s

A t o t a l o f 2,379 d i f f e r e n t c h i l d r e n ' s and t e e n a g e r s ' books were pub-

- I-.-- -

l i s h e d i n 118,103,000 c o p i e s i n Bu lgar ia i n t h e 1970-1979 p e r i o d . I n 1979 t h e y a c c o u n t e d f o r 6.5 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l number o f t i t l e s and f o r 22.4 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l run o f books p u b l i s h e d that yea r .

r I

T i t l e

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

125 146 139 134 121 138 149 157 172 180

102 131

78 95

122 78 96 79 66

/TOTAL: 1 1,461 I 918

P r I S

T o t a l Books

3,218,000

3,986,000 3,808,000

39 795 000

4,427,000 5 ,335 000 6 905 000 6,121,000 6,263, coo 7,4il,OOO

i n t R u n

B r o c h u r e s 1 T o t a l

5,464,000 6,543,000

7,034,000 3 790 000

i o , 978, o00 8,900, o00

10,749,000

3,805,000 3,672,006

5,939 000

8,682, o00 10,338,000

7 , 776,000 10,842,000

17 , 554 , O 0 0 12,060,000 10,068,000 11,083,000

15,405,000 14,295,000

66,874,000 I 118, i03,000

+ S t a t i s t i c a l Yearbook IIBook Pub l ish ing and t h e P r e s s " 1970-1980

The analysis o f t h e above t a b l e shows a s t e a d y i n c r e a s e o f books i n t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s a t t h e expense o f b r o c h u r e s ( o f f s e t books f o r c h i l - d ren ) , w h i c h had a n e g a t i v e e f f e c t o n t h e t o t a l p r in t run. The r e d u c - t i o n o f t h e t o t a l run w a s n e c e s s a r y because o f a c e r t a i n o v e r - s a t u r a t i o n o f t h e marke t w i t h s i m i l a r o f f s e t books w h i c h were p u b l i s h e d i n runs t o o b i g by t h e c o u n t r y ' s standards during t h e 1974-1976 p e r i o d . d u r e i s b e i n g f o l l o w e d p u r p o s e f u l l y and s u i t s t h e o b j e c t i v e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f readers .

T h i s p r o c e -

One publ ishing house s p e c i a l i z e s e x c l u s i v e l y i n t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e f o r c h i l d r e n and a d o l e s c e n t s (llOtechestvoll) and t h e r e a r e s p e c i a l s e c t i o n s a t t h r e e more publ ishing houses ("Narodna Mladezh", llBulgarski P i s s a t e l r 1 and I I B u l g a r s k i Houdozhnik" ) ; t h e i r o u t p u t s a t i s - f i e s t o a g r e a t e x t e n t t h e i n t e r e s t s and needs o f young r e a d e r s .

The t h e m a t i c and genre r a n g e o f c h i l d r e n ' s and t e e n a g e r s ' l i t e r a - t u r e c a n i n d e e d b e q u a l i f i e d as comprehensive. C h i l d r e n ' s books o n a l l s u b j e c t s a r e p u b l i s h e d , but t h e b i g g e s t s h a r e i s h e l d by f i c t i o n . E v e r y e f f o r t i s made t o o f f e r c h i l d r e n and t e e n a g e r s t h e b e s t f r o m t h e n a t i o n a l and w o r l d l i t e r a r y t r e a s u r y .

The o r i g i n a l l i t e r a t u r e f o r c h i l d r e n and t e e n a g e r s a c c o u n t s f o r t h e bulk o f t h e publ ish ing houses ' o u t p u t . Thus, f o r example, i n 1979 i t made up 72 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l number o f t i t l e s and 58 p e r c e n t o f t h e p r in t run. A l o n g w i t h t h e works f r o m t h e n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y h e r i t a g e w h i c h a r e r e g u l a r l y r e - p u b l i s h e d , g r e a t a t t e n t i o n i s , a l s o pa id t o modern B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e . A u t h o r s a r e encouraged t o c r e a t e w o r k s more d i r e c t l y conce rned w i t h t h e image o f t h e young man o f t oday .

- 18 - E v e r y y e a r t h e s t o c k o f c h i l d r e n ' s and a d o l e s c e n t s ' l i t e r a t u r e i s

d i v e r s i f i e d and r e p l e n i s h e d w i t h t r a n s l a t i o n s f r o m abou t f i f t e e n n a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e s (80-90 t i t l e s ) . Books o n a w i d e r a n g e o f s u b j e c t s f r o m s u c h s e r i e s as t tWor ld C l a s s i c s f o r C h i l d r e n and Adolescents11, I lTa les o f t h e Wor ld l l , t t F a v o u r i t e Books and Charac te rs t1 , I lMagic iansI l , " M a s t e r S t o r y T e l l e r s I l a r e r e c e i v e d w i t h t remendous i n t e r e s t .

A l o n g w i t h f i c t i o n w h i c h fo rms t h e main n u c l e u s , p o p u l a r s c i e n c e books a c c o u n t f o r a n i n c r e a s i n g share i n t h e l i t e r a r y o u t p u t f o r c h i l d r e n and teenagers . I n r e c e n t years B u l g a r i a n p u b l i s h e r s have g i v e n g r e a t a t t e n t i o n t o t h i s i m p o r t a n t k ind o f l i t e r a t u r e . S p e c i a l s e c t i o n s have been s e t up a t t h e V a r o d n a Mladezh" and tIOtechestvott p u b l i s h i n g houses w h i c h a r e l o o k i n g f o r new f o r m s and ways o f i n t e r p r e t i n g a w i d e range o f s u b j e c t s f r o m t h e v a r i o u s s p h e r e s o f knowledge i n accordancte w i t h t h e r e c e p t i v e a b i l i t i e s o f c h i l d r e n f r o m d i f f e r e n t age groups. A t p r e s e n t t h e e n c y c l o p e d i c and d i c t i o n a r y e d i t i o n s f o r c h i l d r e n and t e e n a g e r s a r e s t i l l i n s u f f i c i e n t .

R e p r i n t s a r e a k e y i n d i c a t o r i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f c h i l d r e n ' s and a d o l e s c e n t s ' l i t e r a t u r e . They make up 30 t o 35 p e r c e n t o f t i t l e s and 35 t o 40 p e r c e n t o f p r i n t runs o f t h e c h i l d r e n ' s l i t e r a t u r e i n B u l g a r i a . The ove rwhe lm ing o p i n i o n , however, i s that t h e r e a r e s t i l l many un- e x p l o r e d p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n t h i s r e s p e c t .

d) S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l L i t e r a t u r e

By and l a r g e , t h e s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e o v e r t h e past decade has been c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a c o n s i d e r a b l e measure o f s t a b i l i t y . The number o f t i t l e s i s gradually g r o w i n g and so i s t h e t o t a l p r in t run o f such e d i t i o n s . About 850 d i f f e r e n t books f r o m a l l spheres o f know- l e d g e a r e p u b l i s h e d i n Bulgar ia e v e r y year. Some dynamic changes p rompted by t h e r a p i d p r o g r e s s o f some economic s e c t o r s and o f s c i e n c e i t - s e l f a r e observed, however, i n t h e ' ! s c i e n t i f i c l i t e r a t u r e " s e c t i o n .

S o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e l e a d s b o t h i n t e r m s o f t i t l e s (280-300 a y e a r ) and t o t a l p r in t run ( a b o u t 900,000 c o p i e s ) . I n r e c e n t y e a r s i t has i n c r e a s e d rap id l y , a l m o s t d o u b l i n g i n volume, and th i s i s unders tand - a b l e i n v i e w o f t h e B u l g a r i a n s ' k e e n i n t e r e s t i n t h e causes o f w o r l d p r o - cesses and phenomena and i n t h e s t r i k i n g s o c i a l changes i n t h e i r c o u n t r y , as w e l l as t h e i r s e a r c h f o r an e x p l a n a t i o n o f u n i q u e s o c i a l phenomena i n t h e n a t i o n ' s past and p r e s e n t . The B u l g a r i a n p e o p l e and t h e i r f r i e n d s i n t h e w o r l d have r e c e n t l y c e l e b r a t e d t h e 13th c e n t e n a r y o f B u l g a r i a n s t a t e h o o d and j u b i l e e a n n i v e r s a r i e s i n t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e Communist P a r t y ; t h e F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l Congress o f Bulgar ian S t u d i e s was h e l d n o t v e r y l o n g ago, e t c .

I t c a n be said that a t p r e s e n t t h e s c i e n t i f i c s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e has r e a c h e d i t s z e n i t h . I n quantity i t meets t h e needs o f s o c i e t y and c o v e r s t h e necessa ry spheres. I t s q u a n t i t a t i v e i n c r e a s e has t h e r e f o r e been somewhat r e d u c e d i n f a v o u r o f b e t t e r qua l i t y and books in- t e n d e d f o r a w i d e r r a n g e o f r e a d e r s .

F o r s e v e r a l y e a r s now, a g r i c u l t u r a l and m e d i c a l l i t e r a t u r e has been w i t h i n t h e optimum f o r Bulgaria, i.e., o v e r 100 t i t l e s a y e a r and a s t a b i l i z e d ave rage p r i n t run. t h e s e areas. The number of t r a n s l a t e d books and j o i n t v e n t u r e s w i t h f o r e i g n p u b l i s h e r s w i l l p r o b a b l y i n c r e a s e .

No substant ia l changes a r e e x p e c t e d i n

- 19 - I n r e c e n t y e a r s p o p u l a r s c i e n c e t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e has e x p e r i e n c e d

a v e r i t a b l e boom as r e g a r d s t i t l e s , p r i n t runs, themes, des ign , l a y o u t , e t c . However, s c i e n t i f i c t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e has marked a dec rease i n t h e number o f t i t l e s (102 i n 1980) and a r e d u c t i o n o f runs. T h i s i s n o t unexpec ted and i s due t o a h o s t o f f a c t o r s . A t t h i s s t a g e t h i s i s n o p r o b l e m f o r s o c i a l i s t B u l g a r i a . I t i s much more i m p o r t a n t that book publ ishing s h o u l d meet t h e most i m p o r t a n t and c u r r e n t needs o f s o c i e t y and h e l p t o modern i ze t h e m a i n i n d u s t r i e s - T h a t i s why t h e e f f o r t s o f p u b l i s h e r s i n t h i s s p h e r e a r e t u r n e d p r i m a r i l y t o r o b o t t e c h n o l o g y and au tomat ion , was te - f ree t e c h n o l o g i e s and p r o d u c t s , t h e p r o b l e m o f r e s o u r c e s , t h e power industry, m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s , i n s t r u m e n t - m a k i n g e t c . I n t h e n e x t few y e a r s t h e m a j o r p a r t o f t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e w i l l be con- c e r n e d w i t h t h e s e problems.

I n t h e f i e l d o f s c i e n c e s t u d i e s and e d u c a t i o n t h e number o f t i t l e s r e m a i n s a t an ave rage o f f i f t y a year . However, p r in t runs have been r e d u c e d by a l m o s t one t h i r d because o f t h e c o n t i n u i n g f r a g m e n t a t i o n o f s c i e n c e , c a d r e s and, c o n s e q u e n t l y , r e a d e r s as w e l l . I n t h e s p h e r e s o f a r t , l i t e r a t u r e and language s t u d i e s t h e number o f t i t l e s has t r i p l e d and so have t h e p r in t runs. The marke t as w e l l as s o c i o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a - t i o n s show that t h e d e s i r e d q u a n t i t a t i v e l e v e l has been a t t a i n e d , H e n c e f o r t h p u b l i s h e r s s h o u l d c o n c e n t r a t e mainly on i m p r o v i n g qua l i t y i n t h e b r o a d e s t sense o f t h e word.

e ) T r a n s l a t e d L i t e r a t u r e

T r a n s l a t i o n s f i g u r e p r o m i n e n t l y o n t h e programme o f B u l g a r i a n p u b l i s h e r s . A t o t a l o f 6,017 t i t l e s , i .e . , an ave rage o f a b o u t 600 a year , were p u b l i s h e d i n more than 100,000,000 c o p i e s between 1970 and 1980. T h i s makes up 13.4 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e t i t l e s r e l e a s e d i n that p e r i o d and 22.51 p e r c e n t o f t h e runs. Comparison w i t h o t h e r c o u n t r i e s shows t h a t B u l g a r i a i s among t h e l e a d i n g n a t i o n s as r e g a r d s t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e i n p r o p o r t i o n t o t h e t o t a l l i t e r a r y o u t p u t . I n r e c e n t y e a r s t h i s kind o f l i t e r a t u r e has a c c o u n t e d f o r more than 15 p e r c e n t o f t h e o u t p u t o f B u l g a r i a n publishing houses, w h i c h su i ts modern needs and p o s s i b i l i t i e s .

Many t r a n s l a t i o n s a r e a l s o done i n t h e s p h e r e s o f s o c i a l s c i e n c e s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s , p h i l o s o p h y , na tu ra l h i s t o r y and mathemat ics, but natura l ly t r a n s l a t e d f i c t i o n t a k e s t h e b i g g e s t share.

With t h e e x p a n s i o n o f c u l t u r a l exchanges and c o - o p e r a t i o n , trans- l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e i s one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s o f c u l t u r a l communicat ion w i t h o t h e r n a t i o n s . The number o f t r a n s l a t i o n s p u b l i s h e a o v e r t h e past f i v e t o s i x y e a r s has been c o n t i n u o u s l y o n t h e i n c r e a s e . W h i l e i n 1974 t h e number o f t r ans la ted f i c t i o n t i t l e s was 156, i n 1979 i t r e a c h e d 318. f r o m 3,443,000 t o 9,837,000, i.e., an a l m o s t t h r e e f o l d growth. The geo- g r a p h i c scope o f t r a n s l a t i o n s i s l i k e w i s e expand ing - Thus, f o r i n s t a n c e , t r a n s l a t i o n s f r o m f o r t y - n i n e n a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e s appeared i n 1980 a l o n e . A s p e c i a l s e c t i o n f o r Asian, A f r i c a n and La t in Amer ican l i t e r a t u r e was s e t up a t t h e "Marodna K o u l t o u r a " publ ishing house i n 1980 t o a c q u a i n t t h e l o c a l r e a d i n g p u b l i c w i t h t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f t h e s e r e g i o n s w h i c h i s com- p a r a t i v e l y l e s s known i n Bulgaria.

The t o t a l p r in t run i n c r e a s e i s even more i m p r e s s i v e :

The d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t r a n s l a t e d books f r o m a l l g roups by language o f t h e o r i g i n a l i s v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g . The ove rwhe lm ing pa r t o f t h e t rans la - t i o n s i n Bulgar ia a r e f r o m R u s s i a n and t h e l anguages o f t h e o t h e r U n i o n R e p u b l i c s o f t h e USSR. From 1970 t o 1.980 t h e y numbered 3,065 t i t l e s f r o m

- 20 - a l l l i t e r a r y groups. T h i s f a c t i s e x p l a i n e d by h i s t o r i c a l c u l t u r a l t r a d i t i o n s and l i nks and t h e t r e n d s towards a high degree o f i n t e g r a t i o n i n a l l s p h e r e s o f m a t e r i a l and c u l t u r a l l i f e . The second b i g g e s t number o f t r a n s l a t i o n s during t h e same p e r i o d were t h o s e f r o m E n g l i s h , a b o u t 600 t i t l e s , f o l l o w e d by t r a n s l a t i o n s f r o m German, a b o u t 500 t i t l e s , f r o m French, P o l i s h , Spanish, e t c . I n 1981 Bulgarian publ ish- ing houses t r a n s l a t e d and p u b l i s h e d 53 a u t h o r s f r o m t h e USA, 35 f r o m France, 4 1 from t h e U n i t e d Kingdom, 14 f r o m I t a l y and so on. A l l t h i s speaks i n f a v o u r o f a l a s t i n g c u l t u r a l p o l i c y and a p r o p e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g and i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e H e l s i n k i s p i r i t .

D e s p i t e t h e u n d e n i a b l e successes o f Bulgar ian book publ ishing i n t h e f i e l d o f t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e , i t s t i l l f a l l s b e h i n d t h e needs and c o n s t a n t l y i n c r e a s i n g r e q u i r e m e n t s o f t h e r e a d e r s o f today . A l o n g - t e r m programme f o r t r a n s l a t e d l i t e r a t u r e up t o t h e y e a r 2000 i s t h e r e - f o r e b e i n g p r e p a r e d o n t h e i n i t i a t i v e o f t h e l a t e Lyudmila Zhivkova. I t w i l l f i l l i n a number o f gaps i n p r e s e n t i n g t h e ach ievemen ts o f w o r l d l i t e r a t u r e f r o m m y t h o l o g y and f o l k l o r e , t h e l i t e r a r y w e a l t h o f a n t i q u i t y and t h e E a s t e r n c i v i l i z a t i o n s i n v a r i o u s s c h o o l s and t r e n d s down t o t h e p r e s e n t day. A l l publ ishing houses w i l l p a r t i c i p a t e i n c a r r y i n g o u t t h i s comprehensive programme, some p r o v i s i o n s o f w h i c h a r e a l r e a d y b e i n g implemented.

Fo re ign - language e d i t i o n s form a s p e c i a l g r o u p i n t h e o u t p u t o f t h e Bu lgar ian publ ishing houses. during t h e 1970-1980 p e r i o d , a c c o u n t i n g f o r 8.6 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e t i t l e s p u b l i s h e d and f o r 51.3 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e t i t l e s t r a n s l a t e d . The l a t t e r f i g u r e d e s e r v e s s p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n . A n ave rage o f 350 t i t l e s a r e t r a n s l a t e d f r o m Bu lgar ian i n t o f o r e i g n l anguages e v e r y yea r . These a r e m o s t l y books by eminen t Bulgarian a u t h o r s o f f i c t i o n , s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l , s c i e n t i f i c o r t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e w h i c h a r e t r a n s l a t e d i n t o t h e most w i d e s p r e a d l a n g u a g e s i n o r d e r t o a c q u a i n t f o r e i g n r e a d e r s w i t h t h e c u l t u r a l ach ievemen ts and v a l u e s o f t h e Bulgar ian people. Among t h e s e books a r e ma in ly e d i t i o n s earmarked f o r e x p o r t , as w e l l as t e x t - books and s c h o o l t e x t s i n f o r e i g n l anguages w h i c h a r e i n t e n d e d f o r l o c a l use. I n t h e 1970-1980 p e r i o d e d i t i o n s i n R u s s i a n numbered 1,494, f o l l o w e d by e d i t i o n s i n Engl ish ( 9 4 1 ) , F r e n c h (828), German (648), e t c . A new s t a t e publ ishing house c a l l e d " S v y a t " , s p e c i a l i z i n g i n t h e p u b l i c a - t i o n o f Bulgar ian l i t e r a t u r e i n f o r e i g n languages, w a s ' c r e a t e d o n 1 January 1982. t h e n a t i o n a l p o l i c y o n book publishing.

A t o t a l o f 3,890 t i t l e s were p u b l i s h e d

I t s a c t i v i t y w i l l c e r t a i n l y l e a d t o some changes i n

f ) C o - p r o d u c t i o n and R e g i o n a l C o - o p e r a t i o n

The j o i n t a c t i v i t y o f Bulgarian publishing houses w i t h f o r e i g n pub- l i s h e r s i s a r e l a t i v e l y new but v e r y p r o m i s i n g f o r m o f t h e book publish- i n g p o l i c y . A t p r e s e n t t h i s k i n d o f c o - o p e r a t i o n e x i s t s mainly w i t h publ ishing houses f r o m t h e o t h e r s o c i a l i s t c o u n t r i e s and c o n s i s t s o f p r e p a r i n g j o i n t e d i t i o n s ' and v a r i o u s kinds o f c o - e d i t i o n s . f i f t y e d i t i o n s o f t h i s kind a r e p r o d u c e d e v e r y yea r . They a r e p r e p a r e d o n t h e bas is o f a l o n g - t e r m plan drawn up i n advance and c o - o r d i n a t e d w i t h t h e s e n i o r book publ ishing b o d i e s i n t h e r e s p e c t i v e p a r t n e r - c o u n t r i e s . The p u b l i s h e r s t r y t o u s e t h e i r i m a g i n a t i o n and make t h e s e j o i n t l y p r o d u c e d books models i n d e s i g n and l a y o u t .

More than

Such exemplary

+ A j o i n t e d i t i o n i s one i n t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f w h i c h a u t h o r s and publish- e r s f r o m t w o o r more c o u n t r i e s a r e i n v o l v e d and w h i c h i s p u b l i s h e d i n b o t h o r i n a l l p a r t n e r - c o u n t r i e s w i t h i n a d e a d l i n e a g r e e d upon i n advance .

- 21 -

P o p u l a t i o n

8,490,000

8,721,000

8,890,000

j o i n t e d i t i o n s a r e t h e B u l g a r i a n - S o v i e t a lbums llWelcome, B r o t h e r s ! " and "Georg i D i m i t r o v : A Contemporary o f O u r s " .

+ P e r m i l l i o n inhabi tants - T o t a l number o f

T i t l e s Cop ies T i t l e s C o p i e s

3,799 41,029,000 447 . 46 4,832.62

3 , 669 49,099,000 446.89 5,229 97

4 , 817 61,510,000 541.84 6,919 .o1

The number o f C o - p r o d u c t i o n s i n a l l t h e i r var iants has been i n c r e a s i n g i n r e c e n t y e a r s , w i t h a r t and f i c t i o n b e i n g t h e p r e f e r r e d areas. E x p e r i e n c e shows that t h i s f o r m o f c o - o p e r a t i o n between p u b l i s h e r s f r o m d i f f e r e n t coun- t r i e s i s e c o n o m i c a l l y advantageous and p r o m i s i n g . B u l g a r i a n publ ishing houses a r e t h e r e f o r e s e e k i n g t o e x t e n d t h e r a n g e o f t h e i r f o r e i g n p a r t n e r s .

3. P u b l i s h e r s f Output

The publ ishing houses i n s o c i a l i s t B u l g a r i a r e l e a s e an i n c r e a s i n g v a r i e t y o f books and b r o c h u r e s i n e v e r b i g g e r p r i n t runs. I n t h e past t e n y e a r s t h e number o f books p u b l i s h e d e v e r y y e a r v a r i e d between 3,700 and 4,700. run o f 50 m i l l i o n c o p i e s .

A n ave rage o f 4,080 t i t l e s were p u b l i s h e d i n a mean annual p r i n t

Y e a r -

1970

1975

1981

The analysis o f t h e above data shows that B u l g a r i a i s among t h e coun- t r i e s w i t h an a c t i v e book publ ishing industry and c l o s e t o t h e l e a d i n g ones as r e g a r d s t h e number o f t i t l e s published p e r c a p i t a (between 5 and 6 o v e r t h e p a s t decade.

H a v i n g i n mind t h e demands o f s o c i a l development and o f t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c and some t e n d e n c i e s i n w o r l d book publishing, Bulgar ian p u b l i s h e r s r e a c t f l e x i b l y and e f f e c t i v e l y i n d e t e r m i n i n g t h e s t r u c t u r a l r a t i o s o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e p u b l i s h e d . T h i s a p p l i c a t i o n o f r a t i o s and p r o p o r t i o n s between t h e m a i n k inds o f l i t e r a t u r e b o t h f o r t h e c o u n t r y as a who le and f o r t h e d i f f e r e n t publ ishing houses i s one means o f i m p r o v i n g t h e m a t i c planning. The book marke t , s o c i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s and t h e analysis o f some o t h e r data show that , g e n e r a l l y speak ing , during t h e past decade t h e publ ishing houses r e g u l a t e d p r o p e r l y t h e r a t i o s between t i t l e s i n t h e d i f f e r e n t g roups and t h e r a t e s o f development. T h i s i s e v i d e n c e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e :

+ S t a t i s t i c a l Yearbook of t h e N a t i o n a l Commit tee f o r S o c i a l I n f o r m a t i o n f o r 1982

- 22 -

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- 23 - A s can b e seen, t h e l e a d i n g p l a c e as r e g a r d s t h e number o f t i t l e s i s

h e l d b y t h e s o c i a l and a p p l i e d s c i e n c e s and l i t e r a t u r e . However, e v e r y y e a r i m p o r t s f r o m t h e S o v i e t U n i o n t o t a l be tween 15,000 and 16,000 t i t l e s w h i c h a r e u s e d by l o c a l r e a d e r s i n t h e o r i g i n a l . T h i s i s f o u r t i m e s t h e number o f t i t l e s i s s u e d i n B u l g a r i a . Only by tak ing t h i s f a c t i n t o accoun t c a n one g e t a r e a l i d e a o f t h e number o f t i t l e s and o f t h e v a r i e t y o f themes o f f e r e d t o B u l g a r i a n r e a d e r s .

As r e g a r d s p r i n t runs i n t h e d i f f e r e n t t h e m a t i c groups, t h e p i c t u r e i s somewhat d i f f e r e n t . I n t h i s a r e a l i t e r a t u r e p r e d o m i n a t e s and t h i s i s o n l y natural. The pr in t runs of t i t l e s i n t h e sphere o f s o c i a l , e x a c t and a p p l i e d s c i e n c e s a r e a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same l e v e l , as e v i d e n c e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e :

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- 25 - The analysis o f t h e o u t p u t i n r e c e n t y e a r s and t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h

t h e r e a d e r s ' demand i s met, i.e. t h e s t a t e o f t h e book marke t , g i v e r e a s o n t o p r e d i c t a h a l t and even a c e r t a i n r e d u c t i o n o f p r i n t runs i n some spheres such as economics, p h i l o s o p h y , t e c h n o l o g y , p h y s i c s and mathemat ics. A f u r t h e r i n c r e a s e i s e x p e c t e d i n t h e p r i n t runs o f f i c t i o n and c h i l d r e n ' s l i t e r a t u r e , h i s t o r y and books i n t e n d e d f o r mass consumption. A s f a r as t i t l e s a r e concerned, a gradual i n c r e a s e i n t h e i r number i s e n v i s a g e d i n a l l s u b j e c t s , a l t h o u g h a t varying r a t e s , so as t o ensu re a g r e a t e r t h e m a t i c v a r i e t y and d i v e r s i t y o f t h e book o u t p u t i n v i e w o f t h e g r o w i n g demands o f r e a d e r s . B u t w h a t i s t h e p r e s e n t c o r r e l a t i o n between books p roduced and r e a d e r s ' needs?

4. M e e t i n g Readers ' Needs

S o c i o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s have been c a r r i e d o u t f o r f i f t e e n y e a r s now f o r t h e pu rpose o f t h e m a t i c planning and d e t e r m i n i n g t h e s t r u c t u r a l r a t i o s i n p u b l i s h e r s ' programmes and plans. The r e s u l t s o f t h e s e i n v e s - t i g a t i o n s a r e u s e d i n m a n a g e r i a l a c t i v i t i e s and l e a d t o a more adequate c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e r e a d e r s ' needs and p u b l i s h e r s ' p r a c t i c e . I n v e s t i g a t i o n s and p o l l s have been c a r r i e d o u t t o d e t e r m i n e t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c ' s needs f o r economics, c h i l d r e n t s and t e e n a g e r s ' l i t e r a t u r e , s c h o o l and e d u c a t i o n a l books and m e t h o d o l o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e o n B u l g a r i a n and mathemat ics, r e f e r e n c e books and t h e s e r i e s r e l e a s e d by d i f f e r e n t p u b l i s h - ing houses. O f p a r t i c u l a r s i g n i f i c a n c e f o r t h e B u l g a r i a n p u b l i s h e r s a r e t h e f ind ings o f t h e comprehensive s o c i o l o g i c a l s u r v e y , "Books and Readers i n t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c o f B u l g a r i a (1972-1973J", w h i c h o u t l i n e d t h e p r e f e r e n c e s and needs of t h e d i f f e r e n t age, s o c i a l , e d u c a t i o n a l , r e g i o n a l and o t h e r g roups as r e g a r d s t h e d i f f e r e n t g e n r e s and t y p e s o f l i t e r a t u r e . I t a l s o s p e c i f i e d t h e p l a c e o f t h e d i f f e r e n t publishing houses i n sa t i s f y - i ng t h e r e a d e r s ' i n t e r e s t s , as w e l l as t h e soc io-demographic i n d i c a t o r s o f t h e aud ience o f each publ ishing house.

A s i m i l a r comprehensive s u r v e y c a l l e d f1Books and Readers i n t h e S t a g e I t s a i m i s t o o f Deve loped S o c i a l i s m (1981-1983)11 i s c u r r e n t l y underway.

e s t a b l i s h t h e dynamics o f r e a d e r s ' needs and i n t e r e s t s and o u t l i n e t r e n d s i n t h e development o f r e a d i n g .

O n t h e bas is o f t h e s o c i o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e 1972-1973 p e r i o d we s h a l l n o t e some t e n d e n c i e s i n t h e c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e o u t p u t o f p u b l i s h e r s and t h e needs o f r e a d e r s .

i) c i e s by adapting them t o n a t i o n a l c o n d i t i o n s and t o d e v e l o p r e a d e r s ' c u l t u r e by i n s t i l l i n g i n them high a e s t h e t i c and m o r a l c r i t e r i a . A n o p e r a t i v e system has been s e t up w h i c h r e s p o n d s q u i c k l y t o t h e r e a d e r s ' demands and c o n t i n u o u s l y c o r r e c t s t h e s t r u c t u r a l r a t i o s between t h e d i f f e r - e n t t h e m a t i c groups.

Book publ ishing i n B u l g a r i a i s s t r i v i n g t o f o l l o w t h e w o r l d tenden-

ii) The i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c o n f i r m tha t f i c t i o n i s most p o p u l a r and i n t h e h i g h e s t demand and t h a t t h e most w i d e l y r e a d g e n r e i s t h e n o v e l .

The B u l g a r i a n publ ishing houses, "Narodna K o u l t o u r a t l , I I B u l g a r s k i P i s s a t e l " , llOtechestvoll, l t H r i s t o G. Danovll, "Narodna Mladezhl l and t h e publishing house o f t h e F a t h e r l a n d F r o n t c a t e r w i t h success f o r t h i s c u l t u r a l need of t h e B u l g a r i a n r e a d i n g p u b l i c . T h e r e i s a marked i n t e r - e s t i n con tempora ry f o r e i g n and B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e , and i n w o r l d and B u l g a r i a n c l a s s i c s .

- 26 - Such s e r i e s as llWorld C l a s s i c s f 1 , " S e l e c t e d Novels11, IfBulgarian

H i s t o r i c a l Prosev1, tlRayt', l tWorld Images11, "The L iv ing Archives?! , "Great B u l g a r i a n s t t and o t h e r s e n j o y a high p r e s t i g e among readers . S c i e n c e f i c t i o n , b i o g r a p h i c a l n o v e l s and documentary p r o s e have a p p e a l f o r t h e v a r i o u s g r o u p s o f r e a d e r s .

iii) A v e r y s t r o n g p o s i t i v e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e B u l g a r i a n T e l e v i s i o n has been o b s e r v e d o v e r t h e past f i v e t o t e n y e a r s i n s t imu la t i ng t h e r e a d i n g o f famous l i t e r a r y works of w h i c h TV s e r i a l s o r f i l m s have been made and shown, such as J o h n G a l s w o r t h y ' s "The F o r s y t e Saga", Thomas Mann's llBuddenbrooktl, Y. Simonov 's IISeventeen Gl impses o f S p r i n g " , A. I v a n o v l s IlThe E t e r n a l C a l l f 1 , L e o T o l s t o y 1s " F a t h e r Sergey" and o t h e r s .

i v ) L a t e s t i n v e s t i g a t i o n s have e s t a b l i s h e d a rap id g r o w t h i n t h e r e a d e r - ship o f p o p u l a r s c i e n c e , s p e c i a l s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l , p o p u l a r m e d i c a l , na tu ra l h i s t o r y and t e c h n i c a l books and books o n a r t . T h e r e i s , however, a s h o r t a g e of r e f e r e n c e l i t e r a t u r e .

v) T h e r e i s a g r o w i n g demand among r e a d e r s , e s p e c i a l l y young ones, f o r s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e based o n documents, f a c t s o r memoirs ( h i s t o r i - c a l , books a b o u t t h e Bulgarian Communist P a r t y , i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s , p h i l o s o p h y ) .

v i ) grammes w i t h i n t e r n a t i o n a l a s p e c t s such as t h e Comprehensive Programme f o r N a t i o n a l A e s t h e t i c E d u c a t i o n and t h e Long-Term Programme f o r Harmonius Development o f t h e I nd i v idua l and S o c i e t y , whose h ighl ights a r e t h e l i f e and work o f N i k o l a y R o e r i c h , Leonardo da V i n c i , L e n i n , C o n s t a n t i n e C y r i l , t h e P h i l o s o p h e r , and G e o r g i D i m i t r o v ; t h e "Banner o f Peace Assembly and Movement l 1 .

Bulgarian book publ ishing i s a c t i v e l y i m p l e m e n t i n g m a j o r n a t i o n a l p r o -

I n t h i s way p u b l i s h e r s a r e t r y i n g t o comply b e t t e r w i t h c e r t a i n s o c i a l r e q u i r e m e n t s and t o ensu re a l i t e r a r y o u t p u t w h i c h g i v e s a b r o a d c u l t u r e t o t h e younger g e n e r a t i o n and t h e p e o p l e as a whole, and i n s t i l l s s t a b l e i d e o l o g i c a l and m o r a l a t t i t u d e s and m o t i v a t i o n s . I t i s e x p e c t e d tha t t h e most a c u t e needs i n t h e n e x t few y e a r s w i l l be l i n k e d w i t h t h e c o n t i n u i n g rap id development o f t h e n a t i o n a l economy, r e f o r m o f t h e e d u c a t i o n a l system, i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e new economic mechanism, f u r t h e r improvement o f t h e n a t i o n ' s p o l i t i c a l system, enhancement o f s o c i a l i s t democracy, e t c .

5. P r o f e s s i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s

T o g e t h e r w i t h p r i n t i ng p e r s o n n e l and a l l o t h e r c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , publ ishing house employees i n Bulgar ia a r e members of t h e T rade U n i o n o f P r i n t i n g Industry and C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t i o n s Employees. t r a d e u n i o n w i t h s t r u c t u r a l units t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y . T r a d e u n i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n s have been s e t up a t a l l p u b l i s h i n g houses w i t h t r a d e u n i o n g r o u p s , i n t h e b i g g e r s e c t i o n s and depar tments.

T h i s i s a b r a n c h

A t r a d e u n i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n i n a publishing house i s headed by an e l e c t e d commi t tee and a g r o u p by an o r g a n i z e r . The t r a d e u n i o n o r g a n i z a - t i o n i s concerned w i t h t h e o v e r a l l improvement o f work a t t h e publishing house, a c h i e v i n g a high p r o d u c t i v i t y , s a t i s f a c t i o n o f t h e s o c i a l and communal needs o f t h e p e r s o n n e l , observance o f l a b o u r l e g i s l a t i o n and defence of i t s members' i n t e r e s t s . I t p a r t i c i p a t e s a c t i v e l y i n t h e management of t h e publishing house. The c h a i r m a n of t h e t r a d e u n i o n commi t tee i s r e p r e s e n t e d by r i g h t o n t h e m a n a g e r i a l o r publ ishing c o u n c i l . A number o f l a b o u r , s o c i a l , p e r s o n n e l and f i n a n c i a l m a t t e r s canno t be s o l v e d w i t h o u t h i s c o n s e n t and that of t h e t r a d e u n i o n commit tee.

garian W r i t e r s , t h e U n i o n of Bulgarian J o u r n a l i s t s o r t h e U n i o n o f Bulgarian T r a n s l a t o r s .

Many publishing house employees a r e a l s o Tembers o f t h e U n i o i i o f B u l -

- 27 -

165

III. PHYSICAL PRODUCTION

- 1951 1960 1970 1975 1980 1981

15. 2++ 27.0++ 41.0 49.1 53.9 61.5

P r i n t i n g i n Bulgar ia i s a modern industry using advanced methods and machines such as c o m p u t e r i z e d p h o t o c o m p o s i t i o n , e l e c t r o n i c r e p r o d u c t i o n equipment, p r i n t i n g and binding machines, s o p h i s t i c a t e d t e c h n o l o g i e s and qua l i t y m a t e r i a l s .

The i n c r e a s e d p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e Bulgarian p r i n t i ng industry c a n I t s o u t p u t i n 1981 be i l l u s t r a t e d w i t h a number o f f a c t s and f i g u r e s .

was 24 t i m e s t h e 1939 l e v e l . The g r o w t h o f p r o d u c t i o n c a n be seen i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e :

INDEX O F THE TOTAL PRINTING INDUSTRY OUTPUT' (1939=100)

2,400 I 653 1,100 1,400 1,900 2,200 229 333

I n t h e past t h i r t y y e a r s t h e t o t a l p r i n t run o f books has i n c r e a s e d 4.4 t i m e s . The annual p r i n t run o f books i n m i l l i o n c o p i e s has grown as f o l l o w s : +

L 1

T h i s c o n s i d e r a b l e g r o w t h o f p r o d u c t i o n has been a c h i e v e d mainly t h r o u g h t h e m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f industrg and h i g h e r l a b o u r e f f i c i e n c y , as e v i d e n c e d by t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e s :

NUMBER O F PRINTING WORKERS' ( i n thousands )

1944 1970 1975 1979 1980 1981 I ~ -~

L O O + + + 8.7 9 - 6 11.1 11.2 10.1 I

- + S t a t i s t i c a l Yearbook o f t h e N a t i o n a l Commit tee

f o r S o c i a l I n f o r m a t i o n , 1982

++llPolygraphial l magazine, No . 1, 1970

+++ l 'Po lyg raph ia I I magazine, No . 2, 1968

- 28 - FIXED ASSETS IN THE PRINTING INDUSTRY+ ( i n m i l l i o n l e v s )

1970 1975 1979 1980

43.0 66.4 105.8 116.7

1

INDEX OF LABOUR EFFICIENCY IN THE PRINTING INDUSTRY++

(1970=100) 1 1978 1979 1980 1981 1 141 . 4 149 . 1 155 2 147.6

I

The p r e s e n t day B u l g a r i a n p r i n t i ng industry c o n t r a s t s sharply w i t h t h e d e p l o r a b l e i n h e r i t a n c e a t t h e end o f t h e Second W o r l d War. t h e c o u n t r y had a b o u t 400 pr in t i ng houses, more than 200 o f them i n S o f i a . a l l t h e p r i n t e d m a t t e r p r o d u c e d i n t h e c o u n t r y . However, a l l t h e s e e n t e r p r i s e s were p r a c t i c a l l y w iped o u t i n t h e s e v e r e bombing r a i d s o f 1943 and 1944.

I n 1943

. T h e pr in t ing houses i n t h e c a p i t a l a c c o u n t e d f o r 80 p e r c e n t o f

The B u l g a r i a n p r i n t i ng industry was n a t i o n a l i z e d i n t h e 1947-1949 p e r i o d and as a r e s u l t a l l pr int ing houses, abou t 360 o f them, were p l a c e d under s t a t e c o n t r o l and planning was i n t r o d u c e d . A f i r m p o l i c y o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n and s p e c i a l i z a t i o n has been implemented. A t p r e s e n t t h e s y s t e m o f t h e "Bulgarcka P o l y g r a p h i a " s t a t e c o r p o r a t i o n , w h i c h p r o - duces a l l books, newspapers and p e r i o d i c a l s , i n c l u d e s 33 m a i n printing houses, 7 o f them i n S o f i a and t h e r e m a i n i n g 26 i n t h e d i s t r i c t c i t i e s . I n 1981 t h e s e p r i n t i n g houses had 102 subsidiar ies i n t e n d e d o n l y f o r l o c a l pr in t ing s e r v i c e s .

MJMBER OF PRINTING HOUSES (MAIN AND OTHF;RS)+

TERRITORIAL DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCTION CAPACITY

Year T o t a l

1970 113 1975 133 1979 135 1980 135 1981 135

D i s t r i b u t i o n i n o r d e r o f i m p o r t a n c e

M a i n O t h e r s

32 81

34 99 34 101

34 101

33 102

T e r r i t o r i a l D i s t r i b u t i o n

C i t y O t h e r s

Output i n m i l l i o n l e v s

60.4

98.9 122.3 127 . 4 132 9

+ S t a t i s t i c a l Yearbook o f t h e N a t i o n a l Committee f o r S o c i a l I n f o r m a t i o n , 1982 ++ Only pr in t ing houses o f t h e l lBulgarska P o l y g r a p h i a " c o r p o r a t i o n .

- 29 - S i x t y p e r c e n t of t h e p r i n t i ng industry p e r s o n n e l , as w e l l as 98 p e r

c e n t o f t h e newspapers and p e r i o d i c a l s and more than 65 p e r c e n t o f t h e books p r o d u c e d i n B u l g a r i a a r e c o n c e n t r a t e d i n S o f i a . Books a r e a l s o p r i n t e d i n P l o v d i v , V e l i k o Turnovo, Varna, Pambol, Haskovo, Vratsa and Pleven.

O u t s i d e t h e I IBu lga rska P o l y g r a p h i a " s t a t e c o r p o r a t i o n sys tem t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l b i g pr in t ing houses f o r p a c k i n g m a t e r i a l and a number o f smal l p r i n t i ng and d u p l i c a t i n g f a c i l i t i e s f o r s e r v i c e s t o t h e p o p u l a t i o n and ind iv idua l o r g a n i z a t i o n s . They a c c o u n t f o r l e s s than 10 p e r c e n t o f t h e p r i n t e d m a t t e r p r o d u c e d i n t h e c o u n t r y .

A s t o t h e c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f books and t h e t o t a l amount o f p r i n t e d m a t t e r produced, i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o g i v e an answer t h a t wou ld be comparable w i t h data f r o m o t h e r c o u n t r i e s . The t a b l e be low t h e r e f o r e p r e s e n t s t h i s c o r r e l a t i o n i n t w o a s p e c t s : v a l u e o f p r o d u c t i o n and p a p e r u s e d f o r t h e purpose.

VARIOUS PRINTED MATTER I N PROPORTION TO THE

TOTAL PRINTING INDUSTRY OUTPUT I N %

V a l u e - Paper u s e d

Books 24.2 28.2

P e r i o d i c a l s 7.9 8.6

Newspapers 40 .4 12.9

Forms 13.3 17.7

I l u s t r a t e d p a c k a g i n g 7.9 14.9

O t h e r s 6.3 17-7

A f t e r 1945 new pr in t ing houses had t o be b u i l t and t h e d e s t r o y e d o r damaged ones r e b u i l t o r r e s t o r e d . New p r i n t i ng houses were c o n s t r u c t e d i n t h e 1952-1970 p e r i o d i n t h e c i t i e s o f S o f i a , V r a t s a , Varna, Blagoevgrad, Yambol, P e r n i k , S l i v e n , Haskovo, S t a r a Zagora and Pleven.

Between 1972 and 1980 new pr int ing houses were commissioned i n S o f i a , Rousse and V e l i k o Turnovo. These a r e modern p r o d u c t i o n f a c i l i t i e s w i t h up- to-date equipment. P r o d u c t i o n p r e m i s e s a c c o u n t f o r 70.2 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l p r i n t i ng house area, and warehouses f o r 23.6 p e r cen t . c l o s e t o i n t e r n a t i o n a l standards and a l l o w s f o r f u r t h e r m o d e r n i z a t i o n t h r o u g h t h e r e p l a c e m e n t o f equipment and t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f new t e c h n o l o g i e s .

T h i s i s

The B u l g a r i a n pr int ing industry d e v e l o p s i n k e e p i n g w i t h w o r l d t r e n d s .

A l l kinds o f t y p e s e t t i n g methods a r e u s e d i n book p r o d u c t i o n : Pho to - c o m p o s i t i o n - 27.6 p e r c e n t , l i n o t y p e - 38.3 p e r c e n t , monotype - 27.7 p e r c e n t and manual t y p e s e t t i n g - 6.4 p e r cen t . The commiss ion ing i n 1980 o f a p h o t o c o m p o s i t i o n c e n t r e using l a s e r - t y p e composing machines w i t h an annual c a p a c i t y o f 25,000 s h e e t s w i l l r a i s e t h e s h a r e o f p h o t o c o m p o s i t i o n , t o 50 p e r c e n t i n t h e n e x t f e w years.

- 30 - B o t h c o n v e n t i o n a l p h o t o g r a p h i c methods (76 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l

number o f c o l o u r o r i g i n a l s ) and e l e c t r o n i c scanners (24 p e r c e n t ) a r e u s e d i n r e p r o d u c t i o n p rocesses .

The p r i n c i p a l kinds o f pr in t ing methods a r e u s e d i n t h e B u l g a r i a n pr in t ing industry. T h e i r s h a r e o f t o t a l o u t p u t i s as f o l l o w s : l e t t e r - p r e s s pr int ing - 46 p e r c e n t , o f f s e t pr int ing - 50 p e r c e n t and i n t a g l i o pr int ing - 4 p e r c e n t .

The p r i n c i p a l p r e s s s i z e s a r e 50x70 cm., 7 O x l O O cm. and 84x108 cm. f o r t h e s h e e t - f e d r o t a r y p r e s s e s and 70x100 cm., 60x90 cm. and 54x84 ca. f o r t h e web-fed r o t a r y p resses .

L a r g e - s c a l e m e c h a n i z a t i o n has been i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e binding p r o - cesses o v e r t h e past t e n y e a r s and manual l a b o u r has been c o n s i d e r a b l y reduced. S i x l i n e s , 2 f o r b r o c h u r e s and 4 f o r hard cove rs , have been put i n t o o p e r a t i o n and t e n machines f o r a d h e s i v e binding have been i n t r o d u c e d . O f a l l t h e books produced, 33.4 p e r c e n t a r e i n hard cove rs .

The m a i n p r o b l e m s o f t h e m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f t h e pr in t ing industry a r e c o n n e c t e d p r i m a r i l y w i t h t h e f a c t t h a t i t uses e x c l u s i v e l y i m p o r t e d machines, hence t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f b o t h rep lacemen t and maintenance. The e x p a n s i o n o f o f f s e t pr in t ing i s a l s o h i n d e r e d by t h e l a c k o f l o c a l l y p r o - duced p r e - s e n s i t i z e d p l a t e s , w h i l e t h e m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f l e t t e r p r e s s pr in t - ing runs i n t o d i f f i c u l t i e s w i t h t h e supply o f pho topo lymer pr int ing p l a t e s .

Plans have been approved f o r t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n by 1985 o r 1986 o f modern e n t e r p r i s e s f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f p r i n t i ng inks and pre-sensi t , ize,d a l u m i n i u m o f f s e t p l a t e s w h i c h w i l l f a c i l i t a t e a more rap id m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n .

A l l f u t u r e p r i n t i ng f a c i l i t i e s w i l l u s e o f f s e t pr int ing.

Equipment i n v e s t m e n t s i n t h e past t e n y e a r s have a imed a t i n c r e a s i n g p h o t o c o m p o s i t i o n and o f f s e t p r i n t i ng f a c i l i t i e s and f o r updating binding o p e r a t i o n s . A n analysis o f t h e economic e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h e new pr in t - ing houses upon r e a c h i n g t h e i r p l a n n e d c a p a c i t y shows a ' p r o f i t a b i l i t y 5.5 t i m e s h i g h e r p e r 100 l e v s o f f i x e d a s s e t s than that o f . s i m i l a r e n t e r p r i s e s using t h e o l d method o f s h e e t l e t t e r p r e s s print ing.

R a p i d development r a t e s e n s u r e d i n 1980 7.5 c o p i e s o f books and 8.8 c o p i e s o f p e r i o d i c a l s p e r c a p i t a . The c o u n t r y ' s needs f o r p r i n t e d m a t t e r a r e by and l a r g e s a t i s f i e d .

The analysis of t h e f u t u r e development o f m a i n pr int ing p r o d u c t s shows a s l o w e r q u a n t i t a t i v e g r o w t h i n f a v o u r o f b e t t e r qua l i t y and h i g h e r p r o f i t a b i l i t y o f p r o d u c t i o n .

I n v i e w o f f u t u r e needs, i n t h e n e x t few y e a r s t h e p r o d u c t i o n f a c i l i - t i e s o f t h e n a t i o n a l pr int ing industry w i l l d e v e l o p as f o l l o w s :

- c o m m i s s i o n i n g o f a new pr int ing house i n S o f i a i n 1984; p r o d u c e more than 40 p e r c e n t o f t h e books i n t h e c o u n t r y ;

i t w i l l

- c o n s t r u c t i o n i n 1984-1986 o f a newspaper .complex using pho to - c o m p o s i t i o n and web-o f f se t pr in t ing;

- c o n s t r u c t i o n o f e n t e r p r i s e s f o r inks and p r e - s e n s i t i z e d a l u m i n i u m p l a t es.

- 3 1 - The r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h e s e tasks i s l i n k e d w i t h t h e pu rchase o f t h e

necessa ry equipment and, as f a r as t h e e n t e r p r i s e s f o r inks and o f f s e t p l a t e s a r e concerned, w i t h t h e pu rchase o f l i c e n c e s as w e l l .

The p r o d u c t i o n a c t i v i t y o f t h e p r i n t i ng industry i s l a r g e l y dependent

A t p r e s e n t 80 p e r on t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f paper . I n t h e past t e n years t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f w r i t - i n g and p r i n t i ng p a p e r i n B u l g a r i a has n e a r l y doubled. c e n t o f t h e needs a r e met w i t h l o c a l l y - p r o d u c e d paper , but v a r i e t y i s s t i l l i n s u f f i c i e n t . Requ i remen ts f o r p a p e r g l a z e d o n b o t h s i d e s , l i g h t and o t h e r s p e c i a l t y p e s o f p a p e r a r e met t h r o u g h i m p o r t s .

PAPER - PRODUCTION, IMPORT AND CONSUMPTION

I N e w s p r i n t P r i n t i n g and w r i t i n g p a p e r

O u t put + in t h o u s a n d t o n s - - - - - 41.0 42.4 62.1 65.6 72.2

E x p o r t - - - - ++ ++ ++ ++ - ++ I m p o r t i n thousand t o n s 35.4 49.0 47.5 46.1 41.5 ++ ++ ++ ++ ++

P e r c a p i t a c onsump- t i o n i n Kg. 4.2 5.6 5.4 5.2 4.7 4.8 4.9 7.Q 7.4 8.1

~~~

The commiss ion ing o f new f a c i l i t i e s and t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f some .ex i s t i ng ones by 1985 w i l l l e a d t o a c o n s i d e r a b l e i n c r e a s e i n t h e p roduc - t i o n o f g l a z e d and l i g h t p a p e r i n t h e n e x t f i v e - y e a r p e r i o d , and i n i t s qual i ty .

The needs f o r n e w s p r i n t w i l l c o n t i n u e t o b e met e x c l u s i v e l y by i m - p o r t s . P a r t o f t h e n e w s p r i n t i s u s e d f o r o t h e r p r i n t e d m a t t e r as w e l l , but a r e d u c t i o n o f t h e l a t t e r ' s quant i ty has been o b s e r v e d i n r e c e n t years.

P r i n t i n g w o r k e r s i n B u l g a r i a a r e members o f t h e T r a d e U n i o n o f P r i n t - ing Industry and Cu l tu ra l I n s t i t u t i o n Workers. T h i s U n i o n has t h e f o l l o w i n g s t r u c t u r e :

- C e n t r a l Commit tee - t h e supreme body o f t h e b r a n c h t r a d e u n i o n , d i r e c t l y s u b o r d i n a t e t o t h e C e n t r a l C o u n c i l o f Bulgar ian T r a d e Unions. Manages t h e who le a c t i v i t y o f t h e union. I t s o p e r a t i v e o r g a n i s t h e E x e c u t i v e Bureau;

- pr int ing house u n i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n s - each p r i n t i ng house has s u c h an o r g a n i z a t i o n run b y a t r a d e u n i o n commi t tee w h i c h i s e l e c t e d a t a g e n e r a l assembly;

+ S t a t i s t i c a l Yearbook o f t h e N a t i o n a l Commit tee f o r S o c i a l I n f o r m a t i o n

++ C o n c l u s i v e data a r e s t i l l l a c k i n g .

f o r 1982

- 32 - - d i s t r i c t commi t tees - on t h e t e r r i t o r y o f each d i s t r i c t . They

a r e d i r e c t l y r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e a c t i v i t y o f t h e u n i o n ' s d i s t r i c t o r g a n i z a t i o n ;

- t r a d e u n i o n g r o u p s - s e t up a t each p r o d u c t i o n unit. Each i s managed by a g r o u p o r g a n i z e r who i s e l e c t e d a t a g e n e r a l assembly.

The p r i n t i ng w o r k e r s ' u n i o n , one o f B u l g a r i a ' s o l d e s t l a b o u r o r g a n i z a - t i o n s , was e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1907.

- 33 - I V . DISTRIBUTION

1. B o o k s e l l i n g Network

A p o w e r f u l s p e c i a l i z e d o r g a n i z a t i o n - t h e S t a t e C o r p o r a t i o n l lKnigorazprostranenie"/Book d i s t r i b u t i o n - has a c h a i n o f sound b o o k s e l l i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n t h e c a p i t a l and i n a l l d i s t r i c t s o f t h e c o u n t r y , ware- houses o f i t s own and t r a n s p o r t o f i t s own, I t s u p p l i e s more t h a n 1,600 b o o k s t o r e s i n t h e c o u n t r y . The l lKnigorazprostraneniel l S t a t e C o r p o r a t i o n i s a m a j o r i n s t i t u t e o f o u r s o c i a l i s t c u l t u r e , c a l l e d upon t o meet t h e demands o f t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c most f u l l y , and a l s o t o c o n t r i b u t e i n form- i ng t h e s e demands. I t p r o v i d e s t h e main c o n n e c t i o n between r e a d e r s and p u b l i s h e r s . Th rough i t s w i d e n e t w o r k o f b o o k s t o r e s and t h e book d i s t r i - b u t o r s t h e y employ, i t f o l l o w s c l o s e l y r e a d e r s ' i n t e r e s t s and p a r t i c i p a t e s a c t i v e l y i n drawing up p u b l i s h e r s 1 plans and schedu les .

I n t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s book d i s t r i b u t i o n has s c o r e d m a j o r successes i n book sales. l e v s w o r t h more t h a n t h a t s o l d i n 1975, i l l u s t r a t i n g t h e m o u n t i n g i n t e r e s t s o f t h e B u l g a r i a n r e a d e r .

The B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e s o l d i n 1980 w a s b y a b o u t 49,000

D u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d v a r i o u s forms o f book s a l e s d e v e l o p e d on a b r o a d bas is as a r e s u l t o f t h e S p e c i a l D e c i s i o n o f t h e S e c r e t a r i a t o f t h e C e n t r a l Committee o f t h e Bulgar ian Communist Party, I l f o r t h e f u r t h e r development and improvement o f book d i s t r i b u t i o n i n t h e coun t ry . "

The f o l l o w i n g a r e some o f t h e many and v a r i e d b o o k s e l l i n g p o i n t s :

i) B o o k s t o r e s , i n c l u d i n g :

- u n i v e r s a l b o o k s t o r e s , where books o f a l l l i t e r a r y g roups a r e s o l d - t h e y c o n s t i t u t e 81% o f t h e t o t a l number o f b o o k s t o r e s ;

- s p e c i a l i z e d b o o k s t o r e s , where books o f a c e r t a i n l i t e r a r y group, e.g., t e c h n i c a l , m e d i c a l o r some o t h e r s p e c i a l g r o u p a r e s o l d .

ii) Homes of t h e Book, o c c u p y i n g an a r e a o f more than 3,500 square me t res . There a r e o n l y a f e w o f t h e s e s p e c i a l l y b u i l t homes a t p r e s e n t , but t h e i r c o n s t r u c t i o n has been l a u n c h e d i n a l l t h e b i g g e r towns.

iii) P a v i l l i o n s - a w i d e n e t w o r k o f t h e s e e x i s t s i n p o p u l a t e d a r e a s and r e s o r t s . i v ) The n e w l y fo rmed movement " F r i e n d s o f t h e Book1' t a k e s a f a i r s h a r e o f book s a l e s . Those taking pa r t i n t h i s movement work on a v o l u n t a r y basis, and d i s t r i b u t e books a t i n s t i t u t e s and i n s t i t u t i o n s , s c h o o l s , f a c t o r i e s and plants. They a l r e a d y number o v e r 25,000, o r g a n i z e d i n 3,000 c l u b s , and t h i s f i g u r e i s s t e a d i l y growing.

v) has become a c o n s t a n t p r a c t i c e . Such o c c a s i o n s a re , f o r example, c e l e b r a - t i o n s , m e e t i n g s w i t h p o e t s , w r i t e r s , l i t e r a r y d i s c u s s i o n s , e t c .

The o r g a n i z a t i o n o f bazaars and book e x h i b i t i o n s o n v a r i o u s o c c a s i o n s

The forms o f b o o k s e l l i n g , apart f r o m b o o k s t o r e s , a c c o u n t f o r 24 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l t u r n o v e r o f books.

Much has been done t o modern i ze and r e c o n s t r u c t t h e e x i s t i n g book- s t o r e s , as w e l l as t o open new ones. Within f i v e y e a r s a l o n e , i l 5 have been modern i zed o r r e c o n s t r u c t e d , i o5 new ones b u i l t and 112 n e w l y f u r n i s h e d . The f i r s t f i v e m o b i l e b o o k s t o r e s have been put i n o p e r a t i o n .

- 34 - 2. I m p o r t and E x p o r t

B u l g a r i a n r e a d e r s seek f o r e i g n books b o t h i n t h e s p h e r e s o f s c i e n c e and f i c t i o n . t o 12 p e r c e n t o f t h e Bulgarian books s o l d . Books a r e i m p o r t e d f r o m 27 c o u n t r i e s . m i l l i o n cop ies . The main s u p p l i e r i s t h e USSR. Books w r i t t e n i n R u s s i a n a r e n o t d i f f i c u l t t o r e a d f o r a Bulgarian. T h a t i s why t h e y a r e so ld everywhere, a l o n g w i t h Bulgarian books. There a r e a l s o s p e c i a l i z e d b o o k s t o r e s f o r S o v i e t l i t e r a t u r e i n a l l t h e b i g g e r towns.

The i m p o r t and s a l e o f f o r e i g n l i t e r a t u r e i n 1980 amounted

The number o f i m p o r t e d t i t l e s i s abou t 18,000 i n some t e n

T h e r e has been a gradual but s t e a d y i n c r e a s e i n i m p o r t s o f books f r o m t h e German D e m o c r a t i c R e p u b l i c , Po land , Czechos lovak ia , Romania, F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c o f Germany, U n i t e d Kingdom, t h e USA, F r a n c e and t h e N e t h e r l a n d s . The " K n i g o r a e p r o s t r a n e n i e l l S t a t e C o r p o r a t i o n has 49 s p e c i a l i z e d b o o k s t o r e s where s u c h l i t e r a t u r e i s s o l d .

Bulgar ia e x p o r t s books t o 72 c o u n t r i e s . More than 8,000 t i t l e s i n more than 3,5ûO,OOO c o p i e s were e x p o r t e d t o d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r i e s i n 1980. There has been a 12 p e r c e n t i n c r e a s e o v e r t h e 1975 l e v e l .

The b i g g e s t b u y e r o f Bulgarian books i s t h e USSR w h i c h t a k e s two t h i rds o f book e x p o r t s . T h e r e f o l l o w t h e German D e m o c r a t i c R e p u b l i c , Czechos lovak ia , Po land , Cuba, F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c o f Germany, U n i t e d Kingdom, U n i t e d S t a t e s , F rance , Japan, Be lg ium, Y u g o s l a v i a , and o t h e r s . Some books a r e p u b l i s h e d i n f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e s f o r e x p o r t a t t h e r e q u e s t o f f o r e i g n f i r m s . They c o n s t i t u t e a b o u t 70 p e r c e n t o f book e x p o r t s and b e l o n g t o d i f f e r e n t l i t e r a r y g roups - f i c t i o n , s c i e n c e , t e c h n o l o g y , medi- c i n e , s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l l i t e r a t u r e , l i t e r a t u r e f o r c h i l d r e n , e t c . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e r e a r e a g r e a t many books i n t h e Bulgarian language on t h e e x p o r t l i s t s . The c h o i c e i s v e r y wide, and c l i e n t s ' . i n t e r e s t s vary con- s i d e r a b l y so that t h e r e a r e w i d e f l u c t u a t i o n s i n t h e s e e x p o r t s o f l i t e r a - t u r e . Consequen t l y , b o o k s e l l i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n s and publishing houses a r e e n d e a v o u r i n g t o expand t h e i r s a l e s of Bulgarian l i t e r a t u r e t r a n s l a t e d i n t o f o r e i g n languages. c o n s i d e r a b l y more p r o f i t a b l e .

From an economic p o i n t o f v i e w th is i s

A s p e c i a l i z e d Agency, "Propaganda, E x h i b i t i o n s and'Fairs", p romotes Bulgarian books i n t h e c o u n t r y and abroad.

Each y e a r an i n t e r n a t i o n a l book f a i r i s h e l d i n Bulgar ia w i t h t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f more than 90 f i r m s r e p r e s e n t i n g 825 publishing houses. I t i s a t t h i s f a i r tha t t h e S t a t e C o r p o r a t i o n f lKnigorazprostraneniel l con- c l u d e s most o f i t s c o n t r a c t s f o r t h e i m p o r t o f l i t e r a t u r e . Bulgar ia r e g u l a r l y t a k e s par t i n a l m o s t a l l m a j o r and e s t a b l i s h e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l book f a i r s , e n d e a v o u r i n g t o i n c r e a s e t h e number o f i t s p a r t n e r s .

3. L i b r a r i e s

a) Or ig ins

As an o r g a n i z e d f o r m o f supplying c e r t a i n c a t e g o r i e s o f t h e p o p u l a - t i o n o r t h e e n t i r e p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e c o u n t r y w i t h l i t e r a t u r e and i n f o r m a - t i o n , t h e l i b r a r y has been a c o n s t a n t companion o f t h e Bulgarian s t a t e f o r more than 1,100 years , i.e., s i n c e t h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e Bulgarian s c r i p t and t h e emergence o f a n a t i o n a l Bulgarian l i t e r a t u r e . The e x i s t - ence and development of l i b r a r y work i n B u l g a r i a i s e v i d e n c e d by t h e more than 1,000 y e a r o l d l i b r a r y o f t h e R i l a Monas te ry and t h e hundreds o f h a n d w r i t t e n books f r o m monas t i c , r o y a l o r B o y a r ' s l i b r a r i e s p r e s e r v e d i n th is c o u n t r y a n d ' a b r o a d .

- 35 - I t i s c o n s i d e r e d t h a t s e c u l a r l i b r a r i e s i n B u l g a r i a d a t e f r o m 1847,

when a s c h o o l l i b r a r y , open t o a d u l t s as w e l l , was founded i n t h e town o f Tryavna. The f i r s t B x l g a r i a n p o p u l a r r e a d i n g c l u b s , i.e., t h e f i r s t p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s came i n t o b e i n g i n t h e towns o f S v i s h t o v , Lom and Shoumen, on t h e basis o f t h e t h e n near ly f i f t y y e a r - o l d new B u l g a r i a n p r i n t e d book, t h e b u r g e o n i n g s c h o o l system, and t h e economic, c u l t u r a l and p o l i t i c a l upsu rge i n t h e c o u n t r y . The f i r s t B u l g a r i a n s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r y a t t h e B u l g a r i a n L i t e r a r y S o c i e t y , l a t e r t o e v o l v e i n t o t h e B u l g a r i a n Academy o f Sc iences, was founded i n 1869.

A f t e r Bu lga r ia ' s l i b e r a t i o n and t h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f t h e B u l g a r i a n S t a t e , l i b r a r i e s d e v e l o p e d a t a r e l a t i v e l y high r a t e . The vast m a j o r - i t y o f t h e new l i b r a r i e s were e i t h e r s ta te -owned o r sponsored by t h e p u b l i c c u l t u r a l and e d u c a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s such as t h e p o p u l a r r e a d - ing c l u b s . The V y r i l and M e t h o d i u s N a t i o n a l L ibrary" was founded i n 1878, t h e d i s t r i c t l i b r a r y o f t h e c i t y o f P l o v d i v - now t h e " I v a n Vasov N a t i o n a l L ib ra ry - i n t h e f o l l o w i n g yea r , and a l o n g w i t h t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e f i r s t Bulgar ian U n i v e r s i t y i n S o f i a t h e f i r s t l i b r a r y o f a h i g h e r i n s t i t u t e o f l e a r n i n g was e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1882.

By s p e c i a l l a w of 1897 each o f t h e two n a t i o n a l l i b r a r i e s i n S o f i a and i n P l o v d i v r e c e i v e d a f r e e copy, f o r d e p o s i t , o f t h e e n t i r e l i t e r a r y p r o d u c t o f B u l g a r i a . I n t h e same y e a r t h e c u r r e n t n a t i o n a l b i b l i o - graphy was s ta r ted .

P r i o r t o t h e s o c i a l i s t ' r e v o l u t i o n i n Bulgar ia i n 1944 t h e r e were 3,500 l i b r a r i e s w i t h a s t o c k o f 3,2OO,OOO volumes.

S i n c e 1944, w i t h i n a p e r i o d o f 38 y e a r s , t h e n e t w o r k o f l i b r a r i e s has expanded c o n s i d e r a b l y and a t v e r y high g r o w t h r a t e s . Thanks t o t h e s y s t e m a t i c and p u r p o s e f u l a c t i o n o f t h e S t a t e , l i b r a r i e s have become one t h e most a c t i v e and w i d e l y used c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t e s o f t h e c o u n t r y .

The f i r s t dec ree o f t h e C o u n c i l o f M i n i s t e r s r e g u l a t i n g t h e o r g a n i - z a t i o n , f u n c t i o n s and t a s k s o f l i b r a r i e s i n Bu lgar ia was i s s u e d i n 1957. A dec ree ? I f o r t h e f o r m a t i o n o f a u n i f i e d l i b r a r y s y s t e m i n B u l g a r i a " was i s s u e d i n 1970, and a dec ree o f 1973 c l o s e l y l i n k e d t h e l i b r a r y and i n f o r m a t i o n systems o f t h e c o u n t r y .

Today t h e r e a r e o n l y p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s i n Bu lgar ia s e r v i n g t h e popu- l a t i o n . They a r e f i n a n c e d and s u p p o r t e d b y t h e S t a t e t h r o u g h i t s c e n t r a l o r l o c a l budgets.

There a r e thousands o f p r i v a t e l i b r a r i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y but t h e y do n o t p e r f o r m any s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s .

The use of B u l g a r i a n l i b r a r i e s i s f r e e o f charge.

O n 1 January 1981 t h e r e were 1 0 , i g i l i b r a r i e s o p e r a t i n g i n t h e c o u n t r y . F o u r t h o u s a n d o f t h e s e a r e s t a f f e d by p r o f e s s i o n a l l i b r a r i a n s ; abou t 2,100 a r e s e r v i c e d by r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e l o c a l i n t e l l i g e n t s i a who a r e pa id f o r t h e i r work. The r e s t o f t h e l i b r a r i e s a r e s t a f f e d by p u b l i c v o l u n t e e r s .

B u l g a r i a n l i b r a r i e s possessed 92,807,000.1ibrary r e g i s t r a t i o n units. They s e r v i c e d 3,405,351 r e g u l a r r e a d e r s who bo r rowed 52,510,000 l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s i n 1980.

-. 36 - The m a i n l i b r a r y i n t h e c o u n t r y i s t h e W y r i l and Method ius I l N a t i o n a l

L ib rary . s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r y o f t h e c o u n t r y , a d e p o s i t o r y f o r p u b l i c a t i o n s o f t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s and o t h e r i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s , an i n f o r m a t i o n and b i b l i o g r a p h i c c e n t r e o f t h e o r g a n s o f s o c i a l management, t h e n a t i o n a l a r c h i v e s o f t h e B u l g a r i a n N a t i o n a l R e v i v a l , a n a t i o n a l b i b l i o g r a p h i c c e n t r e , a s c i e n t i f i c r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t e i n t h e sphere o f l i b r a r y studies, b i b l i o g r a p h i c s t u d i e s and book s t u d i e s . I t g i v e s m e t h o d o l o g i c a l gu idance t o t h e l i b r a r i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y and p e r f o r m s v a r i o u s c e n t r a l f u n c t i o n s f o r t h e u n i f i e d l i b r a r y system.

I t i s t h e n a t i o n a l a r c h i v e s o f B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a t u r e , t h e b a s i c

T h i s l i b r a r y has a n a t i o n a l l a b o r a t o r y f o r t h e c o n s e r v a t i o n and r e s t o r a t i o n o f l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s . I t possesses one o f t h e l a r g e s t o r i e n t a l a r c h i v e s i n Europe. I t s s t o c k amounts t o some f i v e m i l l i o n l i b r a r y units. I t s e r v e s a b o u t 30,000 r e a d e r s , s c i e n c e w o r k e r s and s p e c i a l i s t s .

F i v e o f t h e b i g g e s t s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r i e s have been d e s i g n a t e d as c e n t r a l l i b r a r i e s ; t h e y a r e : t h e C e n t r a l L ib ra ry o f t h e B u l g a r i a n Academy o f S c i e n c e s w h i c h manages more than f i f t y b r a n c h l i b r a r i e s w i t h i n t h e sys tem o f t h e Academy and possesses a s t o c k o f 1,200,000 volumes; C e n t r a l M e d i c a l L ib ra ry ; t h e C e n t r a l S c i e n t i f i c - T e c h n o l o g i c a l L ibrary , w i t h t h e r i c h e s t c o l l e c t i o n o f s p e c i a l t e c h n i c a l p u b l i c a t i o n s ( p a t e n t s , f i r m c a t a l o g u e s , p r i c e l i s t s , t r a n s l a t i o n s , r e p o r t s o n ass ignments, etc.) : t h e C e n t r a l A g r i c u l t u r a l L ib ra ry ;

t h e

t h e C e n t r a l L ib rary o f S o f i a U n i v e r s i t y .

The d i s t r i c t l i b r a r i e s a r e t h e b a s i c t e r r i t o r i a l s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r i e s . They a r e u n i v e r s a l i n c h a r a c t e r and p r o v i d e l i b r a r y , b i b l i o g r a p h i c and i n f o r m a t i o n s e r v i c e s t o t h e main t e r r i t o r i a l - a d m i n i s t r a t i v e units o f t h e c o u n t r y - t h e d i s t r i c t s . i n P l o v d i v .

The l a r g e s t i s t h e Ivan Vazov N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y

The d i s t r i c t l i b r a r i e s have a l i b r a r y s t o c k o f 8,526,000 l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s .

A t each o f t h e 291 m u n i c i p a l c e n t r e s i n t h e c o u n t r y t h e r e i s a c e n t r a l m u n i c i p a l l i b r a r y . t i o n w i t h i n t h e i r c i r c u m s c r i p t i o n t h e c e n t r a l l i b r a r i e s a r e a s s i s t e d by t h e more than 3,600 r e a d i n g c l u b l i b r a r i e s w h i c h e x i s t i n o t h e r s e t t l e - ments. The r e a d i n g c l u b l i b r a r i e s have t h e l a r g e s t s t o c k o f books among a l l l i b r a r i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y - 3l,016,000 volumes - and t h e y c a t e r f o r 1,44i,, 150 r e a d e r s .

I n p r o v i d i n g l i b r a r y s e r v i c e t o t h e popu la -

Each s c h o o l has i t s own l i b r a r y . The re ar-e 3,665 s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s Most o f them a r e s t a f f e d b y t e a c h e r s who r e c e i v e e x t r a i n t h e c o u n t r y .

pay f o r t h e i r l i b r a r y s e r v i c e . l i b r a r i a n s o n t h e s t a f f . T h e i r task i s t o h e l p s t u d e n t s c o n s o l i d a t e and e x t e n d t h e knowledge a c q u i r e d a t schoo l . 14,944,000 l i b r a r y units.

A t 650 s c h o o l s t h e r e a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l

T h e i r s t o c k o f books amounts t o

A t o t a l o f - l , 9 0 9 independen t l i b r a r i e s have been e s t a b l i s h e d a t t h e b i g g e s t e n t e r p r i s e s and i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e c o u n t r y . f r o m t h e budge t funds of t h e r e s p e c t i v e e n t e r p r i s e s and i n s t i t u t i o n s . About 600 o f them a r e s t a f f e d by p r o f e s s i o n a l l i b ra r i ans . These l i b r a r i e s meet t h e g e n e r a l e d u c a t i o n a l and c u l t u r a l , and p r o f e s s i o n a l i n t e r e s t s of t h e i r r e a d e r s . m a t e r i a l s .

They a r e s u p p o r t e d

They have a s t o c k o f 8,456,000 l i b r a r y

- 37 - Each h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t i n t h e c o u n t r y o r g a n i z e s i t s

own l i b r a r y , w h i c h s e r v e s r e s e a r c h work, t e a c h i n g , l e c t u r i n g and t h e s t u d e n t s i n t h e i r s c h o o l work. The h o l d i n g s o f t h e s e l i b r a r i e s a r e e s t i m a t e d a t 4,609,000 l i b r a r y units.

The g roup o f s p e c i a l l i b r a r i e s i n c l u d e s p r a c t i c a l l y a l l l i b r a r i e s of t h e B u l g a r i a n Academy o f Sc iences , o f t h e v a r i o u s s c i e n t i f i c r e s e a r c h and t e c h n o l o g y t r a n s f e r i n s t i t u t e s , t h e l i b r a r i e s o f i n s t i t u t i o n s , t h e a t r e s , museums and p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n s . H o l d i n g s i n t h e s e l i b r a r i e s c o n t a i n a l a r g e number o f s p e c i f i c c a r r i e r s o f i n f o r m a t i o n such as p a t e n t s , stan- dards and f i r m ca ta logues . They possess a t o t a l o f 23,209,000 d i f f e r e n t r e g i s t e r e d units. Books and p e r i o d i c a l s c o n s t i t u t e t h e s m a l l e s t p o r t i o n o f t h e i r c o l l e c t i o n s .

L i b r a r y C o l l e c t i o n s

As al ready ment ioned, i n 1980 B u l g a r i a n l i b r a r i e s k e p t a s t o c k o f 92,807,000 r e g i s t r a t i o n units. l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s p e r p o t e n t i a l r e a d e r i n t h e c o u n t r y . Each y e a r more than s i x m i l l i o n l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s o f d i f f e r e n t k i n d s f l o w i n t o t h e c o u n t r y ' s l i b r a r i e s . The S t a t e has a lways p r o v i d e d t h e necessa ry funds f o r k e e p i n g l i b r a r y c o l l e c t i o n s complete. O b l i g a t o r y norms of f i n a n c i n g have been es tab l i shed f o r t h e g e n e r a l e d u c a t i o n a l l i b r a r i e s . Read ing c l u b l i b r a r i e s r e c e i v e 26 s t o t i n k a s p e r r e s i d e n t , s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s 1 l e v p e r s t u d e n t and f a c t o r y and i n s t i t u t i o n l i b r a r i e s up t o 1 l e v p e r worke r o r c i v i l s e r v a n t .

T h i s means t h a t t h e r e a r e more than t e n

Under a s p e c i a l l a w o f 1966 t h e B u l g a r i a n p r i n t i ng houses a r e o b l i g e d t o supply f r e e o f cha rge t h e I f C y r i l and Method ius f f N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y w i t h t w e n t y c o p i e s o f each p r i n t e d e d i t i o n p u b l i s h e d i n t h e c o u n t r y , f o r dis- t r i b u t i o n t o l i b r a r i e s .

The b iggest l i b r a r i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y mainta in r e g u l a r book exchanges w i t h l i b r a r i e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e wor ld .

The re i s no l i b r a r y i n t h e c o u n t r y that does n o t r e c e i v e a t l e a s t 100 t i t l e s o f new l i t e r a t u r e each year . I n t h e b i g g e s t l i b r a r i e s a c q u i - s i t i o n s o f new t i t l e s vary between 30 and 100 t h o m a n d a year .

The g e n e r a l e d u c a t i o n a l l i b r a r i e s r e c e i v e l i t e r a t u r e mainly i n t h e B u l g a r i a n language, w h i l e t h e s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r i e s r e c e i v e m a t e r i a l s i n B u l g a r i a n and f o r e i g n languages.

E v e r y year about l,5OO,OOO volumes a r e w i t h d r a w n f r o m l i b r a r y l i s t s as worn ou t , o r o b s o l e t e e d i t i o n s .

c ) Premises

S i n c e t h e s o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n a l a r g e number o f bui ld ings have been e r e c t e d f o r d i f f e r e n t kinds o f l i b r a r i e s . More than 2,200 r e a d i n g c l u b s have been b u i l t w i t h s p e c i a l p remises f o r t h e i r l i b r a r i e s . The N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , 12 d i s t r i c t a l l - c i t y l i b r a r i e s and 8 l i b r a r i e s o f h i g h e r educa- t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s have a c q u i r e d new bui ldings. S p e c i a l norms have been s e t f o r l i b r a r y premises , w h i c h a r e b ind ing f o r b u i l d e r s and i n v e s t o r s i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f s c h o o l and i n d u s t r i a l b u i l d i n g s .

- 38 - Each l i b r a r y i n p r e m i s e s s p e c i a l l y b u i l t f o r t h e purpose, adapted, o r

r e c o n s t r u c t e d i s equ ipped w i t h a h a l l where t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f books i s k e p t o n open access, r e a d i n g rooms and a book d e p o s i t o r y .

More than 24 m i l l i o n v i s i t s a r e made t o t h e c o u n t r y ' s l i b r a r i e s each yea r , w h i c h i s t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f 3.7 v i s i t s p e r y e a r f o r e v e r y p o t e n t i a l r e a d e r . O n h is v i s i t s a r e a d e r bo r rows s i x l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s a y e a r on t h e average.

d) Exchange be tween L i b r a r i e s - A sound sys tem o f i n t e r - l i b r a r y l o a n has been e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e

c o u n t r y . The c e n t r e o f i n t e r - l i b r a r y l o a n s i s t h e V y r i l and Method ius" N a t i o n a l Library. A s p e c i a l i n s t r u c t i o n has been i s s u e d , i n accordance w i t h i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e g u l a t i o n s , o n t h e basis o f w h i c h i n t e r - l i b r a r y exchanges a r e organ ized. The c e n t r a l m u n i c i p a l l i b r a r i e s and d i s t r i c t l i b r a r i e s a c t as exchange c e n t r e s i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e c i r c u m s c r i p t i o n s . The c e n t r a l b r a n c h s c i e n t i f i c l i b r a r i e s o r g a n i z e t h e i r ' s e r v i c e w i t h i n t h e f ramework o f ' t h e i r b ranches o r i n s t i t u t i o n s . system i s a s s i s t e d i n i t s work by f o u r z o n a l d i s t r i c t l i b r a r i e s w h i c h p lay t h e r o l e o f d e p o s i t o r i e s f o r B u l g a r i a n and l e s s w i d e l y sought l i t e r a - t u r e i n f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e s (Varna, P l o v d i v , Rousse and S o f i a ) .

The t e r r i t o r i a l l i b r a r y

To f a c i l i t a t e t h e exchange o f p u b l i c a t i o n s t h e N a t i o n a l L ibrary main- ta ins a n a t i o n a l r e f e r e n c e c a t a l o g u e o f f o r e i g n p e r i o d i c a l s and f o r e i g n books a v a i l a b l e i n Bulgar ian l i b r a r i e s .

The degree t o w h i c h demands a r e met

The B u l g a r i a n l i b r a r i e s meet, t o a great e x t e n t , t h e demands o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n . As a l r e a d y p o i n t e d ou t , t h e book supply i n t h e c o u n t r y i s c o n s i d e r a b l e . Each y e a r a l a r g e par t o f t h e p u b l i s h e r s ' p roduce f l o w s i n t o t h e l i b r a r i e s . T h i s , however, does n o t mean t h a t t h e demands o f t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c a r e met t o t h e f u l l . The q u a n t i t i e s i n w h i c h some books a r e a v a i l a b l e on t h e marke t - few i n number as t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r books may be - a r e i n s u f f i c i e n t . A t t h e same t i m e o t h e r t i t l e s t e n d t o l o s e t h e r e a d e r s ' i n t e r e s t . I t has t h e r e f o r e been necessa ry t o l ink l i b r a r i e s t o - g e t h e r i n t e r r i t o r i a l and b r a n c h l i b r a r y systems, so as t o make t h e i r s t o c k s c o n s i d e r a b l y more usable. I

I n t e r e s t i n f o r e i g n l i t e r a t u r e i s a l s o growing. T h i s means that i n f u t u r e an i n c r e a s i n g amount o f i t w i l l e n t e r Bulgarian l i b r a r i e s . The Bulgar ian r e a d e r has a m a j o r advantage i n b e i n g a b l e , w i t h o u t much d i f f i - c u l t y , t o use l i t e r a t u r e i n t h e R u s s i a n language. T h i s f a c t w idens t h e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f t h e l i b r a r i e s .

E l e c t r o n i c computers, w h i c h a r e gradually b e i n g i n t r o d u c e d i n t o s c i e r ì t i f i c l i b r a r i e s , w i l l e x t e n d t h e i n f o r m a t i o n c a p a b i l i t i e s o f t h e s e l i b r a r i e s . A t p resent , . o n l y a few l i b r a r i e s a r e using t h e i r own o r some o t h e r i n s t i t u t e ' s e l e c t r o n i c computer and t h i s has c o n s i d e r a b l y i n c r e a s e d t h e i r c a p a b i l i t i e s .

L ib rary w o r k e r s a r e members o f t h e T rade U n i o n o f P r i n t i n g Industry and Cul tura l I n s t i t u t i o n s Employees. A t t h i s U n i o n t h e r e i s a I1Librarians' Sect ion1 ' . I n p r a c t i c e i t i s a m u l t i - b r a n c h s e c t i o n and i s headed by a commi t tee e l e c t e d by l i b r a r i a n s who a r e members o f d i f f e r e n t t r a d e un ions . T h i s s e c t i o n o r g a n i z e s q u a l i f i c a t i o n courses, p r o v i d e s in- c e n t i v e s f o r l i b r a r y w o r k e r s and defends t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l i n t e r e s t s .

- 39 -

Y e a r

1934

1946

1956

1965

1976

1934

1946

1956

1965

1975

V. READING

I n s o c i a l i s t B u l g a r i a r e a d i n g i s a mass s o c i a l phenomenon s i n c e an e s p e c i a l l y i m p o r t a n t s o c i o - c u l t u r a l p r e r e q u i s i t e has been c r e a t e d : i l l i t e r a c y has been e r a d i c a t e d and t h e e d u c a t i o n a l l e v e l o f a l l age g r o u p s of t h e p o p u l a t i o n i s c o n s t a n t l y b e i n g r a i s e d .

P o p u l a t i o n

4,941,848

6,008,354

6 , 495 229

7 211,375

7,658,498

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

I n o r d e r t o i l l u s t r a t e more c l e a r l y t h e development o f e d u c a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y t h e f o l l o w i n g data a r e p r o v i d e d o n t h e l e v e l o f academic achievement a t t e n - y e a r i n t e r v a l s :

E lemen ta r ; E duc a t i on

1,733,350

2 202 9 557

2,367,812

2,286,716

2,043,989

35%

36 7%

36 . 4%

3 1 7%

26 7%

Primary E duc a t i o n

443 ,113

1,125,410

1,616,225

2,309,436

2,617 , 963

9.0%

18.7%

24 9%

32.096

34 2%

Sec o ndar y E d u c a t i o n

133 , 111 276 , 694

575,397

888,328

1,594,991

2.7%

4.6%

8.9%

12.4%

20.8%

H i g h e r E d u c a t i or

33 9 031

55,238

112,506

173,319

311,851

0.7%

0.9%

1.7%

2.4%

4.1%

I n c o m p l e t e E l e m e n t a r y E d u c a t i o n

2,599,244

2,348,454

1,823,289

1,553 576

1,089,704

52 6%

39 1%

28.1%

21 5%

14 . 2%

T h e r e i s a c l e a r t r e n d o f c o n t i n u a l and fast g r o w t h i n t h e p o p u l a t i o n ' s e d u c a t i o n a l l e v e l o v e r t h e age o f e i g h t , i n t e r m s o f i n c r e a s i n g b o t h t h e number o f t h o s e who have h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n (0.9% i n 1946, 2.4% i n 1965, 4.1% i n 1975) and t h e r e l a t i v e s h a r e o f p e r s o n s o f secondary and 11semi-higher" e d u c a t i o n ( f rom 12.4% i n 1965 t o 20.8% i n 1975).

A t t h e end o f 1975, 24.9 p e r c e n t o f t h e Bulgarian p o p u l a t i o n had secondary, semi -h ighe r o r h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , as against 14.8 p e r c e n t i n 1965. secondary and h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a l m o s t doubled: 1965 t o 1,907,000 a t t h e end o f 1975.

T h i s means that o v e r t h e 1965-1975 p e r i o d t h e number o f p e r s o n s w i t h f r o m 1,062,000 a t t h e end o f

The number o f employed s p e c i a l i s t s w . i t h h i g h e r , l lsemi-higherf f and secondary e d u c a t i o n i n c r e a s e d f r o m 257,000 i n 1960 t o 767,000 i n 1977. m a j o r i t y o f s p e c i a l i s t s employed i n t h e n a t i o n a l economy a r e young p e o p l e (up t o age 35). T h e r e has been a b i g i n c r e a s e i n t h e number o f young s p e c i a l i s t s ; 3Ol,OOO a t t h e end o f 1970; 417,000 a t t h e end o f 1977.

The

243,000 a t t h e end o f 1966;

- 40 - The number o f e n g i n e e r i n g and t e c h n i c a l s p e c i a l i s t s r e g i s t e r e d t h e

b i g g e s t i n c r e a s e i n b o t h a b s o l u t e and r e l a t i v e t e r m s during t h e p e r i o d i960- ig77; t h e r e w a s o v e r a f o u r f o l d i n c r e a s e .

The p o l i t i c a l and socio-economic t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s i n s o c i a l i s t Bulgar ia a r e c l o s e l y l i n k e d w i t h t h e c u l t u r a l p o l i c i e s tha t a r e b e i n g implemented. c u l t u r e , f u l l p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e i n t h e c u l t u r a l p r o c e s s f r o m t h e v i e w p o i n t s of c r e a t i o n and d i s c r i m i n a t i n g a p p r e c i a t i o n o f t h e m a t e r i a l and s p i r i t u a l v a l u e s o f t h e past and t h e p r e s e n t .

The essence o f t h e s e p o l i c i e s i s t h e d e m o c r a t i z a t i o n o f

R e a d i n g and Readers

The p o p u l a r i t y and t h e d e m o c r a t i c c h a r a c t e r o f book r e a d i n g i n Bulgar ia c a n b e i l l u s t r a t e d b o t h by a d d u c i n g data abou t t h e number o f books r e a d i n t,he c o u r s e o f a three-month ( o r twelve-month) p e r i o d and by f inding o u t t h e degree t o w h i c h r e a d e r s ' i n t e r e s t s were met. The f o l l o w - ing t a b l e s p r e s e n t t h e r e s u l t s o f a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o c i o l o g i c a l study c a r r i e d o u t by t h e N a t i o n a l S c i e n t i f i c I n f o r m a t i o n C e n t r e o f C u l t u r e i n 1981 among 1971 persons.

- 4 1 -

Number o f books r e a d : i n a 3-month p e r i o d

DISTRIBUTION O F READERS ACCORDING TO SOCIAL STATUS

NO.

S o c i a l Group Workers

None

One book

2 t o 5 books

More than 6 books

Non-respondent

239

134

166

54

10

TOTAL I 603

%

39 , 64

22,22

27,53

8,96

1,66

100,oo

Farmers

NO o

93

29

17

1

12

152

61,18

19,08

11,18

0,66

7989

100 o O 0

Employees with u n i v e r s i t y e duc a t i on

NO

8

33

126

81

2

250

%

100,oo

- 42 -

' Employees A r t i s t s and Housewives and Non- w i t h h i g h e r I n t e l l e c t u a l s S t u d e n t s P e n s i o n e r s r esp onden t s e d u c a t i o n

NO. % No. % No. % NO % NO %

t 1 i I l I

' 50 11,34 ~

14 21,32

201 45,58

92 20,86

4 0,91

441 100,oo

O 0,oo

3 9937

18 5 6 2 5

11 34,37

O 0,oo

32 100,OO

2 1,39

9 6925

73 50,69

58 40,28

2 1,39

144 100,oo

184 54,76

47 13,99

69 20,54

28 8935

8 2,38

336 100,oo

4 30977

1 7,69

1 7969

2 15938

5 38946

13 100,OO

- 43 -

DISTRIBUTION O F READERS ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

E d u c a t i o n a l L e v e l

E l e m e n t a r y Edu c a t i on

P r i m a r y E d u c a t i o n

Secondary (Comprehensive)

Number o f books r e a d No. %

None 244 73,27 217 40994 52 15,66

One book 33 9,91 111 20994 72 21,69

2 t o 5 books 36 10,81 139 26 9 23 134 40,36

More than 6 books 12 3160 47 8,86 71 2 1 9 39

Non-r espondent 8 2,40 16 3902 3 O 9 9 0

TOTAL 333 100,oo 530 100,oo 332 100,oo

- 44 -

b

Secondary Semi-h igher 1 Non- I

%

( V o c a t i o n a l ) and h i g h e r I Respondent T o t a l

NO % No % No.

9989 8 2,37 22 34 , 37 580 29,43

77 20,59 47 13,91 10 15 , 63 350 17,76

176 47,06 173 5 L l 8 13 20 3 1 671 34,04

80 21,39 106 3 1 , 36 11 17 9 19 327 16,59

4 1907 4 i , i 8 8 12 50 43 2,18

374 100,oo 338 100,oo 64 ioo,oo 1971 100,oo

- 45 -

P l a c e o f Res idence

Number o f books r e a d i n a +month p e r i o d

DISTRIBUTION OF READERS ACCORDING TO PLACE OF RESIDENCE

S o f i a D i s t r i c t c e n t r e Town

No. % NO. % No. %

None 27 u , 5 9 81 15,28 110 25 70

One book 38 16,31 86 16923 80 18,69

2 t o 5 books 94 40,34 255 48,11 151 35,28

More than 6 books 73 31,33 101 19 9 O 5 82 19, 16

Non-respondent 1 O943 7 1,32 5 1,17

TOTAL 233 100,oo 530 100,oo 428 100,oo

- 46 -

I

V i l l a g e , as a cent re o f a

s e t t l e m e n t system C o n s t i t u e n t

No. % No. % -

Non-Respondents

No. %

T o t a l

Mo. %

580 29,43

350 17 9 76

671 34,04

327 16,59

43 2,18

1971 100,oo

- 47 - I t i s c o n s i d e r e d that t h e most a c t i v e r e a d e r s a r e t h o s e who have r e a d

r e a d e r s of medium a c t i v i t y , t h o s e who have more than 6 books p e r q u a r t e r ; r e a d f r o m 2 t o 5 books; and l a s t come t h o s e who have r e a d one book o r none .

The g roup of r e a d e r s o f medium a c t i v i t y i s t h e l a r g e s t , a c c o u n t i n g f o r 34 p e r cen t . I t i n c l u d e s m o s t l y t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l s , s t u d e n t s , employees w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , employees w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , employees w i t h secondary e d u c a t i o n , w o r k e r s ; r e s i d e n t s of d i s t r i c t c e n t r e s , t h e c a p i t a l c i t y and o t h e r towns; young p e o p l e between t h e ages o f 15 and 19, f o l l o w e d by t h e 20-29 age g r o u p and t h e 30-39-year-olds.

Those who have r e a d one book come second, c o n s t i t u t i n g 17-76 p e r c e n t o f t h o s e q u e s t i o n e d ; third.

and t h e most a c t i v e r e a d e r s - 16-59 p e r c e n t - come

Readers who have r e a d one book each during t h e th ree -mon th p e r i o d a r e m o s t l y worke rs , employees w i t h secondary e d u c a t i o n , f a r m employees; p e r s o n s w i t h secondary s p e c i a l , primary and secondary v o c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n ; p e r s o n s aged f r o m 40 t o 49 and f r o m 30 t o 39; women; r e s i d e n t s o f v i l l a g e s w h i c h a r e c e n t r e s o f s e t t l e m e n t systems.

s l i g h t l y more men than

The f a c t o r s l i m i t i n g t h e d e s i r e t o r e a d c a n be g r a d e d thus:

- t i r e d a f t e r work 16.08 p e r c e n t

- f a m i l y o b l i g a t i o n s 12.23 11 11

- p u b l i c a c t i v i t i e s 3.50 It I'

- i n c o n v e n i e n t h o u r s o f work 2.49 1' 11

- m a t e r i a l hardships 1.22 'I II

- !!They d o n ' t sa t i s f y me" 1.17 11 tt

- absence of t h e n e c e s s a r y c u l t u r a l f a c i l i t i e s (bookshop, l i b r a r y , e t c . a t t h e p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e 0.61 11 '1

The study, "Books and r e a d e r s i n t h e P e o p l e i s R e p u b l i c o f Bulgaria", c a r r i e d o u t i n 1972-73 found t h a t 30.4 p e r c e n t r e a d as much as t h e y wan ted w h i l e a s i m i l a r study i n 1981 found - as has a l r e a d y been n o t e d - that p e r - cen tage t o be 42.5.

Family o b l i g a t i o n s were c i t e d by 32.5 p e r c e n t as a f a c t o r i nh ib i t ing r e a d i n g i n 1972 w h i l e i n 1981 th i s p e r c e n t a g e d ropped t o 12-23, as a r e s u l t o f w i d e r i n t r o d u c t i o n o f h o u s e h o l d a p p l i a n c e s , i m p r o v e d p u b l i c s e r v i c e s , and an expanded n e t w o r k o f c h i l d c a r e e s t a b l i s h m e n t s .

The p o s i t i v e changes i n book publishing and d i s t r i b u t i n g p o l i c y a r e i l l u s t r a t e d by t h e f a c t t h a t w h i l e i n 1972 12.1 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n were u n a b l e t o f ind t h e books t h e y wanted, t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g f i g u r e f o r 1.981. i s 1-78 p e r c e n t .

The p l a c e of r e a d i n g i n p e o p l e i s l e i s u r e t i m e m e r i t s c l o s e r a t t e n t i o n . S t u d i e s c a r r i e d o u t i n 1981 i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e r e a d i n g o f books and maga- z i n e s comes second among t h e c u l t u r a l pursuits c a r r i e d o u t i n l e i s u r e t ime . A Bulgarian d e v o t e s 16 m i n u t e s a day o n t h e a v e r a g e t o t h e r e a d i n g o f books and magazines corn a r e d w i t h 13 m i n u t e s i n 1970-71. comes f i r s t (58 minutesr;.

Wa tch ing TV

- 48 - Y e t a n o t h e r f a c t w h i c h shows t h e i n t e r e s t o f t h e Bulgarians i n books

i s t h e e x i s t e n c e o f an e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y l a r g e number o f home l i b r a r i e s . A study was c a r r i e d o u t i n 1980 o f 4,000 households. ( i .e. 62.5 p e r c e n t ) had t h e i r l i b r a r i e s a t home. The average number o f books p e r h o u s e h o l d i s 73.

O f t h e s e 2,499

S p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n i s pa id t o some s e c t i o n s o f t h e read ing p u b l i c and publ ishing houses and t h e S t a t e make c o n s i d e r a b l e e f f o r t s t o meet t h e i r s p e c i f i c needs f o r p u b l i c a t i o n s . The ceeds o f t h e young g e n e r a t i o n come f i r s t . T e x t b o o k s and o t h e r a ids a r e c l o s e l y l i n k e d i n c o n t e n t w i t h t h e c u r r i c u l a . They a r e p u b l i s h e d i n numbers w h i c h a r e enormous i n p r o p o r - t i o n t o t h e c o u n t r y ' s s i z e and have t h e l o w e s t n o m i n a l p r i c e . S c h o o l s f o r t h e hand icapped ( m e n t a l l y r e t a r d e d ) and t h e d i s a b l e d a r e p r o v i d e d w i t h t e x t b o o k s . L i t e r a t u r e f o r c h i l d r e n and t e e n a g e r s - some 300 t i t l e s annually - c o m p r i s e s a l l g e n r e s and p e r i o d s , c o v e r i n g b o t h t h e c l a s s i c s and t h e con tempora ry Bulgarian and f o r e i g n a u t h o r s . A n a t i o n a l scheme embrac ing a l m o s t a l l publ ishing houses has been worked o u t t o meet t h e i n t e r e s t s o f t h e young.

- 49 - V I . PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

The o l d e s t e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t i n t h i s sphere i s t h e P o l y g r a p h i c Secondary S c h o o l i n S o f i a . I t i s a successo r t o t h e Secondary G r a p h i c S c h o o l f ounded i n 1923 w h i c h p r o d u c e d many o u t s t a n d i n g Bulgar ian p r i n t e r s . Today t h e Jul ius F u c i k P o l y g r a p h i c S c h o o l i n S o f i a i s a secondary e d u c a t i o n e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f f e r i n g a f o u r - y e a r cou rse o f study. Each y e a r 100 t o 120 g r a d u a t e s comp le te t h e course.

T h e r e i s no s p e c i a l e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t f o r t r a i n i n g e d i t o r s and o t h e r publishing s t a f f . They a r e r e c r u i t e d f r o m among g r a d u a t e s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y of S o f i a and some o t h e r c o l l e g e s o f h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n p r o v i d i n g s p e c i a l t ra in ing. The f o r m s o f p r o v i d i n g a d d i t i o n a l p r o f e s s i o n a l q u a l i f i - c a t i o n s a r e i n a d e q u a t e l y developed. A s p e c i a l programme has- been drawn up t h i s y e a r (1982) t o p romote t h e t r a i n i n g o f book publishing s ta f f . S t a r t i n g f rom t h e i 982 /83 academic yea r , t h e Depar tment o f J o u r n a l i s m o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S o f i a i s t o p r o v i d e an a d d i t i o n a l p o s t - g r a d u a t e c o u r s e f o r e d i t o r s f r o m t h e publ ish ing houses.

The wor ld -w ide t r e n d o f p r o f e s s i o n a l development t h r o u g h l i f e - l o n g e d u c a t i o n has been r e f l e c t e d i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f house semina rs a t pub- l i s h i n g f i r m s w i t h a v i e w t o i m p r o v i n g t h e i d e o l o g i c a l and p r o f e s s i o n a l t r a i n i n g o f t h e s ta f f . A l s o , s c i e n t i f i c c o n f e r e n c e s and workshops o n s p e c i f i c s u b j e c t s , d i s c u s s i o n s o n p r o f e s s i o n a l t o p i c s , e t c . have been h e l d .

I t i s o n l y i n t h e past t e n y e a r s t h a t b o o k s e l l e r s have been t r a i n e d i n t h e t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c i p l e s o f book m a r k e t i n g and p r o f e s s i o n a l b o o k s e l l e r s ' e x p e r t i s e . A s p e c i a l c o u r s e f o r b o o k s e l l e r s was opened i n 1970 a t t h e Economic Secondary S c h o o l i n S o f i a and i n t h e ì978/79 academic y e a r t h e S t a t e I n s t i t u t e o f L ibrar ianship i n a u g u r a t e d a c o u r s e f o r book d is t r ibu- t i o n s p e c i a l i s t s w i t h semi -h ighe r e d u c a t i o n .

I n 1980 t h e number o f book m a r k e t i n g emp loye rs w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n r o s e by 21 p e r c e n t as against 1975, and t h e number o f t h o s e w i t h semi- h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n went up by 35 p e r cen t .

The S t a t e Book D i s t r i b u t i o n C o r p o r a t i o n r e g u l a r l y o r g a n i z e s on - the - job and o t h e r c o u r s e s f o r various kinds o f s p e c i a l i s t s where t h e y c a n i m p r o v e t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l e x p e r t i s e .

L i b r a r i e s i n B u l g a r i a employ l i b r a r i a n s w i t h h i g h e r and semi -h ighe r e d u c a t i o n i n l i b r a r i a n s h i p and a l s o c u l t u r a l and e d u c a t i o n a l w o r k e r s w i t h semi -h ighe r and secondary e d u c a t i o n .

T h e r e i s no s p e c i a l h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n e s t a b l i s h m e n t f o r l ib rar ians. A Chair i n Librar ianship and S c i e n t i f i c I n f o r m a t i o n a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S o f i a has been t r a i n i n g l i b r a r i a n s i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h o t h e r h i g h e r educa- t i o n c o u r s e s s i n c e 1954. A l o n g w i t h t h e i r b a s i c cou rse , t h e s t u d e n t s study t h e p r i n c i p l e s of l i b ra r iansh ip o r s c i e n t i f 5 c i n f o r m a t i o n as a more na r row s p e c i a l i z a t i o n f o r seven semesters. The same Chair a l s o runs two- y e a r o r s ix-month ( i n t e n s i v e ) c o u r s e s f o r l i b r a r i a n s and s p e c i a l i s t s i n s c i e n t i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h h i g h e r educa t ion .

L ib rar ians w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n r e c e i v e a d d i t i o n a l t r a i n i n g a t s ix- month c o u r s e s run by t h e C y r i l and M e t h o d i u s N a t i o n a l Library.

- 50 - The m a i n i n s t i t u t e w h i c h t r a i n s l i b r a r i a n s i s t h e S t a t e I n s t i t u t e o f

L ibrar ianship e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1950. I t p r o v i d e s a two-year c o u r s e o f study f o r g r a d u a t e s f r o m c o l l e g e s o f secondary educa t ion . They a r e t r a i n e d f o r employment i n g e n e r a l l i b r a r i e s .

S p e c i a l i s t s w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n i n book publishing, t h e book t r a d e and l i b ra r i ansh ip a r e t r a i n e d mainly i n t h e USSR - a t t h e Moscow I n s t i t u t e o f P o l y g r a p h y and a t t h e I n s t i t u t e s o f C u l t u r e i n L e n i n g r a d , Minsk and K iev . S p e c i a l i s t s w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n i n p r in t i ng t e c h n o l o g y a r e t r a i n e d a t t h e Moscow I n s t i t u t e o f P o l y g r a p h y and a t t h e H i g h e r C o l l e g e o f P o l y g r a p h y i n L e i p z i g and K a r l Marx S t a d t i n t h e German Democra t i c R e p u b l i c .

P r e s e n t r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r s p e c i a l l y t r a i n e d s t a f f a r e o n t h e whole a d e q u a t e l y met but as t h e work becomes more e x a c t i n g t h e r e i s g r e a t e r need f o r a d d i t i o n a l t r a i n i n g .

A s e a r l y as t h e f i r s t decades o f t h e c e n t u r y p r i n t e r s , b o o k s e l l e r s and l i b r a r i a n s p u b l i s h e d t h e i r own p r o f e s s i o n a l p e r i o d i c a l s b u t t h e s e appeared i r r e g u l a r l y and w i t h l o n g b r e a k s i n between.

The f i r s t p r o f e s s i o n a l j o u r n a l t o appear i n s o c i a l i s t B u l g a r i a was t h e Yearbook o f t h e B u l g a r i a n I n s t i t u t e of B i b l i o g r a p h y . I n 1952 t h e C y r i l and M e t h o d i u s N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y s t a r t e d t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f I z v e s t i y a . The magazine -.-- B i b l i o t e k a r ( ' ILibrarianI ') w h i c h f i r s t appeared i n l m a i r n s a t h e l p i n g l i b r a r i a n s d e v e l o p i d e o l o g i c a l l y , p o l i t i c a l l y , c u l t u r a l l y and p r o f e s s i o n a l l y , h igh l ight ing t h e most advanced methods o f work. The N a t i o n a l L ib rary i n P l o v d i v a l s o p u b l i s h e s i t s own Yearbook.

The magazine P o l i g F a f i y a ( " P o l y g r a p h y t t ) was l a u n c h e d i n 1960. A f t e r h a v i n g t w i c e ceased and resumed p u b l i c a t i o n , t o d a y t h i s magazine c a r r i e s a r t i c l e s o n t h e t e c h n i c a l , t e c h n o l o g i c a l , o r g a n i z a t i o n a l and economic p r o b l e m s o f pr int ing.

E d i t o r s and p u b l i s h e r s publ ish t h e i r own weekly , - ASB ( s i n c e 1979) . A l t h o u g h i t i s a d d r e s s e d t o a w i d e r aud ience , i t s pages o f t e n p r o v i d e a forum f o r d i s c u s s i n g t o p i c a l p r o b l e m s o f i n t e r e s t t o p r o f e s s i o n a l pub- l i s h e r s .

O t h e r p e r i o d i c a l s w h i c h d e v o t e some space t o t h e p r o b l e m s o f book publ ishing i n c l u d e P r o b l e m i na k o u l t o u r a t a (I 'Problems p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e o f C u l t u r e , and z h o u r n a l i s t ("Bulgarian J o u r n a l i s t f 1 ) .

o f C u l t u r e " ) , a B u l g a r s k i -."

- 5 1 - V I I . LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BASIS

7 . C o p y r i g h t

The l e g a l b a s i s o f c o p y r i g h t i s e n s h r i n e d i n A r t i c l e 26 o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c o f B u l g a r i a , w h i c h s t i p u l a t e s that c o p y r i g h t i s u n d e r t h e p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e S t a t e . T h i s p r o t e c t i o n i s regu - l a t e d by t h e C o p y r i g h t A c t ( p u b l i s h e d i n I z v e s t i y a , No. 92 o f 16 November 1951; amended i n No. 10 o f 1 F e b r u a r y 1952; m o d i f i e d and supplemented i n No. 55 of 5 May 1972). The p r o p e r t y r i g h t s o f a u t h o r s a r e g u a r a n t e e d by r a t e s f o r t h e r e m u n e r a t i o n o f a u t h o r s , p e r f o r m e r s and o t h e r s , app roved by t h e C o u n c i l o f M i n i s t e r s ( p u b l i s h e d i n Durzhaven V e s t n i k , No. 3 2 - o f A p r i l 1971 (33, 34), 1971); 9 1 o f 22 November 1974).

amended and s u p p m n - a v e n -- V e s t n i k No.

The h i s t o r y o f t h e C o p y r i g h t A c t i n B u l g a r i a c a n b e d i v i d e d i n t o two p e r i o d s : b e f o r e and a f t e r S o c i a l i s m . C o p y r i g h t i n t h e n e w l y i ndependen t Bulgar ia a f t e r t h e L i b e r a t i o n (1878) s e r v e d t h e i n t e r e s t s o f p u b l i s h e r s and p r i n t e r s . S p e c i a l r u l e s a f f e c t i n g c o p y r i g h t were p r o m u l g a t e d i n 1921, i.e., 40 y e a r s a f t e r t h e L i b e r a t i o n , w h i l e r u l e s r e g u l a t i n g t h e pub- l i s h e r ' s c o n t r a c t were e n a c t e d as e a r l y as 1897. supplemented i n many r e s p e c t s t h e p r o t e c t i o n a f f o r d e d p u b l i s h e r s by t h e T rade T r e a t y o f 1897. 9 September 1944, t h e C o p y r i g h t A c t w a s c h a r a c t e r i s e d by t h e g r e a t degree o f dependence on t h e p u b l i s h e r i n w h i c h i t p l a c e d t h e a u t h o r .

The 1921 C o p y r i g h t A c t

D e s p i t e some p a r t i a l amendments p r i o r t o

I t was o n l y when s o c i a l i s t l a w a d d r e s s e d i t s e l f t o t h e p r o b l e m that a r e a l C o p y r i g h t A c t was evolved.

I n v i e w o f a l l i t s d e t a i l e d p r o v i s i o n s and s p e c i f i c c h a r a c t e r , i t was d e c i d e d n o t t o i n c o r p o r a t e i t i n t o t h e C i v i l Code and i t w a s t h e r e f o r e e n a c t e d as a s e p a r a t e l a w .

The r e l a t i o n s between p u b l i s h e r and a u t h o r a r e r e g u l a t e d by t h e Copy- r.ight A c t and t h e O b l i g a t i o n s and C o n t r a c t s Act . The C o p y r i g h t A c t f o r b i d s t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o r o t h e r u s e o f a work w i t h o u t i t s a u t h o r ' s p e r m i s s i o n . The p u b l i s h e r c o n c l u d e s a c o n t r a c t w i t h t h e a u t h o r f o r o n l y one s p e c i f i c p u b l i c a t i o n . The v a l i d i t y o f t h i s c o n t r a c t canno t e x t e n d beyond t h r e e t o f i v e yea rs . R i g h t s r e m a i n w i t h t h e a u t h o r and new con- t r a c t s ' a r e c o n c l u d e d and new t e r m s a g r e e d upon f o r each subsequent p u b l i c a - t i o n by t h e same p u b l i s h e r s , by o t h e r p u b l i s h e r s i n t h e c o u n t r y o r abroad. C o p y r i g h t r e m a i n s i n f o r c e f o r f i f t y y e a r s a f t e r t h e a u t h o r ' s death.

The e x i s t i n g c o p y r i g h t r e g u l a t i o n s i n t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c o f B u l g a r i a ensu re a high l e v e l o f p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e a u t h o r ' s r i g h t s and f u l f i l t h e p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o p y r i g h t c o n v e n t i o n s t o w h i c h B u l g a r i a has acceded. Within t h i s w i d e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n t e x t i t c a n be c l e a r l y seen tha t t h e n e c e s s a r y i n t e r n a l and i n t e r n a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s have k e e n p r o v i d e d i n Bulgar ia f o r i n t e g r a t i n g i t s n a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e , a r t and s c i e n c e i n t h e W o r l d c u l t u r a l p rocess .

B u l g a r i a acceded t o t h e Berne C o n v e n t i o n on t h e P r o t e c t i o n o f L i t e r a r y and A r t i s t i c Works (1921) and t o i t s l a t e s t P a r i s w o r d i n g (1971). The p r i n c i p l e s imbedded i n t h i s C o n v e n t i o n a r e c o n s i s t e n t l y r e f l e c t e d i n i t s l e g i s l a t i o n .

- 52 - A C o p y r i g h t Agency has been s e t up on t h e b a s i s o f t h e C o p y r i g h t A c t

by a d e c r e e o f t h e C o u n c i l o f M i n i s t e r s . The Agency p r o v i d e s s t a t e s u p e r v i s i o n i n t h e sphere of c o p y r i g h t and t h e o b s e r v a t i o n o f t h e r e l e v a n t i n t e r n a t i o n a l agreements; i t a c t s as a B u l g a r i a n l i t e r a r y agency f o r p r o - m o t i n g and s p r e a d i n g t h e works of B u l g a r i a n a u t h o r s abroad; i t ensures o v e r a l l p r o t e c t i o n 02 t h e r i g h t s o f B u l g a r i a n a u t h o r s a t home and a b r o a d as w e l l as t h o s e o f f o r e i g n w r i t e r s i n B u l g a r i a , i n ' a c c o r d a n c e w i t h e x i s t - ing l e g i s l a t i o n and i n t e r n a t i o n a l agreements t h r o u g h a l l l e g a l means and methods; i t endorses c o n t r a c t u a l terms, conc ludes c o n t r a c t s and pays t h e B u l g a r i a n a u t h o r s f o r t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e i r works a b r o a d and a u t h o r s f r o m f o r e i g n c o u n t r i e s f o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e i r works i n Bulgaria.

2. Encouragement o f Books and R e a d i n g

I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e S t a t e Book D i s t r i b u t i o n C o r p o r a t i o n and t h e pub- l ish ing houses, t h e F r i e n d s o f t h e Book movement a l s o p u b l i c i z e s and s e l l s books. I t was s e t up o n t h e i n i t i a t i v e o f book l o v e r s and f u n c t i o n s as a p u b l i c o r g a n i z a t i o n . I t does n o t c o l l e c t membership dues and has no o b l i g a t o r y f o r m s o f a c t i v i t y . The movement i s o r g a n i z e d : i t i s l e d by a N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l and d i s t r i c t c o u n c i l s and has s e t up c l u b s a t schoo ls , bookshops, e n t e r p r i s e s , m i l i t a r y units, e t c . S e v e r a l t housand c l u b s have been formed. I t has a d o p t e d B a s i c G u i d e l i n e s f o r t h e R o l e o f t h e Movement and Suggested G u i d e l i n e s f o r t h e A c t i v i t y o f Clubs.

The Movement's primary c o n c e r n i s t o p romote p u b l i c a p p r e c i a t i o n o f books. I t o r g a n i z e s between 300 and 500 m e e t i n g s between w r i t e r s and r e a d e r s e v e r y yea r . I t s t u d i e s r e a d e r s ' needs and t r i e s t o s a t i s f y them. I t a l s o s h a r e s i n t h e d e c i s i o n o n t h e optimum number o f c o p i e s o f i n d i v i - dual books t o be p r i n t e d .

The second b a s i c a c t i v i t y o f t h e F r i e n d s o f t h e Book Movement i s t h e I t s e l l s books f o r some 4 t o 5 m i l l i o n l e v a e v e r y d i r e c t s a l e o f books.

yea r . Only a b e g i n n i n g has been made i n th i s r e s p e c t . The p o s s i b i l i - t i e s a r e numerous. The p e o p l e ' s bookshops a r e opened a t f a c t o r i e s and e n t e r p r i s e s , e d u c a t i o n a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s , m i l i t a r y units, e t c . The p e r s o n o r p e r s o n s i n charge of t h e bookshops a r e employees o f t h e same e n t e r p r i s e o r f a c t o r y and work v o l u n t a r i l y , w i t h o u t r e m u n e r a t i o n . The bookshops open a t a t i m e c o n v e n i e n t t o t h e employees: a t l u n c h b r e a k s o r e a r l y i n t h e morning. They a r e f u r n i s h e d w i t h books and g i v e n assis- t a n c e i n a c c o u n t i n g b y t h e S t a t e Book D i s t r i b u t i o n C o r p o r a t i o n .

The Movement a l s o seeks o u t o l d and second-hand books.

T h e r e a r e t h r e e i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e c o u n t r y engaged a c t i v e l y i n s t u d i e s o f books and r e a d i n g .

For f i f t e e n y e a r s now s y s t e m a t i c r e s e a r c h o n t h e p rob lems o f books has been c a r r i e d o u t by a s p e c i a l i z e d i n f o r m a t i o n and study g roup a f f i - l i a t e d t o t h e publishing industry ( P o l i g r a f i z d a t , t h e " B u l g a r i a n Bookt1 S t a t e Corpo ra t i -on , t h e Commit tee f o r P u b l i s h i n g , t h e Committee f o r C u l t u r e and now t h e !!Bulgarian Book and P r e s s " A s s o c i a t i o n ) . I t has a s e c t o r f o r s o c i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s o n books and r e a d i n g .

The m a i n a s p e c t s o f r e s e a r c h a r e :

- 53 - a) The study o f t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c , p r o m o t i o n o f a p p r e c i a t i o n o f

books and s o c i o l o g i c a l a s p e c t s o f p e r s o n n e l p o l i c y . T h i s work i s done t h r o u g h f u n d a m e n t a l surveys, r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c : llBook P u b l i s h i n g and t h e Book M a r k e t " (i966-67), I1Books and Readers i n B u l g a r i a " (1972-1973), I IProblems o f S o c i o - p o l i t i c a l L i t e r a t u r e - Reading, P u b l i s h i n g , D i s t r i b u t i o n t 1 (1977), lfBooks and Readers i n t h e S tage o f Deve loped S o c i a l i s t Society11 (1981-1983).

b) P o l l s r e v e a l i n g t h e a t t i t u d e s o f v a r i o u s g r o u p s o f r e a d e r s towards s p e c i f i c t y p e s o f p u b l i c a t i o n : l l S o c i o l o g i c a l P rob lems o f L i t e r a - t u r e f o r C h i l d r e n and Teenagers - Reading, Publishing, D i s t r i b u t i o n and P r o m o t i o n f 1 ( i976), '!The E f f e c t o f t h e F r o n t - r a n k i n g E x p e r i e n c e and S o c i a l i s t P r o d u c t i v i t y C o n t e s t s e r i e s f f (1979), I lProblems i n P u b l i s h i n g R e f e r e n c e Books", "Adventure and Sc ience F i c t i o n Themes i n L i t e r a t u r e f o r C h i l d r e n and Teenagers" (1979-1980).

c ) Secondary Analysis: IlThe R o l e o f t h e I n d i v i d u a l P u b l i s h i n g F i r m s i n m e e t i n g t h e Readers ' I n t e r e s t s f f (1974), f IProblems o f Mass P o l i - t i c a l P u b l i c a t i o n s " (1976) and o t h e r s .

The Research I n s t i t u t e of C u l t u r e a t t h e Bulgar ian Academy o f Sc iences and t h e Commit tee f o r C u l t u r e c a r r y o u t f u n d a m e n t a l s c i e n t i f i - c and t h e o r e t i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s and p r e p a r e norms and f o r e c a s t s f o r t h e development of a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e spher.esof c u l t u r e , book publishing and d i s t r i b u t i o n .

The C y r i l and M e t h o d i u s N a t i o n a l L ib rary c a r r i e s o u t r e s e a r c h on books and r e a d i n g o n i t s own " l i b r a r y t e r r i t o r y l l ,

A n a s s o c i a t i o n named Bulgarian Book and P r e s s w a s e s t a b l i s h e d o n 1 October 1982. I t i n c l u d e s c r e a t i v e p r o d u c t i o n a l and economic o r g a n i z a t i o n s . I t i s a c o r p o r a t e body o p e r a t i n g o n t h e c o s t - a c c o u n t p r i n c i p l e and based i n So f ia . I t i n c l u d e s a l l ( s t a t e and p u b l i c ) pub- l i s h i n g houses, t h e Bulgar ian P o l y g r a p h y C o r p o r a t i o n w i t h i t s p r i n t i ng p r e s s e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y , t h e Book -marke t i ng C o r p o r a t i o n w i t h i t s p r o v i n c i a l e n t e r p r i s e s , t h e B o a r d o f Book P r o m o t i o n and Book Fairs, and o t h e r s . I n p r a c t i c e t h i s A s s o c i a t i o n c o v e r s t h e who le p r o c e s s - t h e m a t i c p o l i c y , p u b l i s h e r s ' e d i t i n g o f m a n u s c r i p t s , pr int ing, c i r c u l a - t i o n p o l i c y , p r o m o t i o n and m a r k e t i n g , i n c l u d i n g i m p o r t s and e x p o r t s . I n f a c t , i t has a l l t h e means n e c e s s a r y t o c o - o r d i n a t e t h e e f f o r t s o f a l l s e c t o r s and implement a u n i f i e d p o l i c y as r e g a r d s books and r e a d i n g i n B u l g a r i a ,