Snejana Ianeva and the American Centers and Corners in Bulgarian Libraries

One of the most significant achievements of Snejana Ianeva is the participation of Bulgarian libraries in the American Corners Program, which began more than 15 years ago at the initiative of the US State Department. As Director of the Information Resource Center (IRC) at the US Embassy in Sofia and a former librarian who never stopped thinking about libraries, Snejana immediately embraced the idea. Bulgaria is one of the 60 countries participating in this project. In 2004, Bulgaria’s first American Corner was established at the “Pencho Slaveykov” Regional Library in Varna, soon followed by the American centers at the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” and the Sofia City Library. At the beginning of 2015, the American Corner in Plovdiv at the “Ivan Vazov” National Library in Plovdiv also opened its doors.

The American Centers are partner library spaces that are managed jointly by the libraries and the Public Affairs Section at the US Embassy in Sofia on the basis of a Cooperation Agreement. The host library provides premises and staff, and the US Embassy provides equipment, multimedia materials, staff training and technical support, as well as funding for programs and events. The centers offer free access to all citizens to books and electronic resources with information about the United States, educational resources in English, and educational and cultural programs. The American Center at the Sofia City Library has a rich collection of American literature and the largest collection of American children's books in the Balkans.

“American Shelves” is a unique initiative of Snejana Ianeva that is only applied in Bulgaria. Thanks to it, more public libraries have become part of the project. “American Shelves” are dedicated corners with information materials about the USA in the reading rooms of 14 regional libraries, where the librarians can provide information about the USA and consult citizens on the opportunities to study in the USA, Fulbright scholarships and exchange educational programs.

As in many other endeavours, Snejana Ianeva was able to look broadly at the idea of "corners" and see the benefits of them for Bulgarian libraries. She envisioned them not only as American resource centers and places for citizens to access up-to-date and accurate information about the United States, but also as a role model in the library profession. She shaped them as channels through which the experience of the world's most advanced library practices would flow and also as places that could attract donations to the libraries. She worked with devotion to make all this happen and we hope we would be able to continue her work!

Author: BBIA
Rubric: In memoriam
Published: no. 1, February 2020