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The Library of Technical University of Varna first opened in 1963/1964 academic year. The library was established at the same time as the university, its opening being quite unimposing. Initially it was housed in the Library at the University of Economics - Varna (then D. Blagoev Higher Institute of Public Economy), and was under the supervision of its director. Its collection comprised of only 560 volumes. The Library of Technical University of Varna was formed with the appointment of the first permanent librarian. All study materials and research literature were collected from donations by Bulgarian and foreign institutes. |
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As the number of new specialties and students increased, so did the need for expansion and enrichment of the number of books. At that time the collection of periodicals, mostly from abroad, began. This marked the start of the incredible library collections that are of tremendous value for the training of the students and for the scientific work of the young teaching staff. Programs were developed for exchange of books with about 40 universities from Bulgaria and abroad. In 1973, ten years after it was founded, the library already had a staff of seven people, and the number of its collections reached 35 336 volumes. In 1975 the library expanded to occupy a whole floor of about 600 square meters area in the newly built Training and Workshop Campus Building. The three reading rooms - Periodicals, Reading Room and Reading Room for Teachers, are functionally connected with the Borrowing Services and the book depositories which are spacious enough to house the continuously increasing stock of 56 000 volumes. Major stages of the library stock automated processing are: - 1985 – minigraph processing and the first PCs; - 1991 – transition to the Library Automation system; In 1999 the library moved to its present location on the first floor of the New Training Campus Building of 2000 square meters area. The University Library is a member of the Union of the Library and Information Staff (ULIS) and the Association of the University Libraries. Since 2007 the Library has allowed extended access to its e-resources, thus offering the prospect of making enquiries in both the electronic catalogues and databases of the information search systems from any office and computer room in the University. Wireless internet access is available throughout the library. In 2011 the Scanning module was introduced necessary for the digitalization of the library. Readers are given the opportunity to become familiar with the most recent titles on the website of the University and to see the scanned cover and list of contents of the new books and magazines. The University Library, as a cultural centre, holds exhibitions of specialized literature every year. The interest shown therein is traditionally high. They allow the opportunity to collect new titles with teacher’s cooperation. The students of Industrial Design Program exhibit their works in the library rooms, and awards are given to the best of them during the Celebrities in May. The book collections of the University Library now comprise of about 200 000 volumes. It is available to all of its readers – students, teachers, scholars and users from all over the country and abroad. |