Memories by Slava Draganova, Director of the Rodina Library - Stara Zagora
On March 8 – the International Women's Day, the long-time President of the Bulgarian Library and Information Association Snejana Ianeva would have turned 69. With gratitude and appreciation, we remember the person who devoted more than 30 years of her life to the modernization of libraries in Bulgaria!
Snejana Ianeva (March 8, 1952 - December 26, 2019) grew up in Dimitrovgrad in a loving and closely-knit family of intellectuals, good and caring parents, people of high morals and ethics, who raised and educated their children. Her father was a well-known attorney and a public figure, and her mother was a long-time court administrator. Snejana grew up among the books in her family's large library and began reading at the age of four. Since early childhood the love of books and knowledge formed her as a person opened to the world. Raised in a family which cherished Bulgarian traditions of literature and patriotism, she continued those traditions and dedicated all her life to the development and the prestige of Bulgarian culture in our country and around the world.
The entire career of “Snejeto”, as we all called her was dedicated to the idea of working for the development and transformation of libraries into modern centres of knowledge, lifelong learning, information and culture. She contributed to the fruitful professional cooperation with the American Library Association. As a result of many joint projects were realized, including Sister Libraries, ABLE, the National Library Weeks. With her assistance, over 40 Bulgarian librarians, including two from “Rodina” Library, visited American libraries, participated in the exchange of experience and in the annual conferences of the American Library Association (ALA). Under her leadership, a network of 14 American centers and corners in public libraries across the country has been established, one of which is at the “Rodina” Library. Thanks to Snejana Ianeva, our Library received as a donation an interactive computer system with specialized software Early Literacy Station / ELS / for our young readers up to 12 years, who are studying English.
Snejana Ianeva's contributions for the development of libraries in Bulgaria are innumerable. From her leadership starting the contacts with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to the creation and implementation of the largest project in the last 30 years - the Global Libraries – Bulgaria. This is the project, through which public libraries have significantly changed their appearance and became centers for equal access to information for all citizens.
Dedicated and committed to her cause without seeking personal gain, strong as a true fighter and at the same time morally pure person, always smiling and well-meaning, ready to help everyone professionally and personally, uniting and inspiring Bulgarian librarians with her ideas – this is how we will remember Sneja. She bequeathed to us her inexhaustible energy, faith and optimism, which gave her the strength to fight and defend professional standards and to raise the prestige of the profession.
We celebrate the power of her spirit!