People are important

Krasimira Niagulova – Regional Library “Partenii Pavlovich”- Silistra

Her personal telephone number is written under the name Snejka Ianeva. I knew that I could always call and rely on her for advice – professional or personal. Although I was thinking for a long time to telephone her or not, because she was always busy, should I also engage her. But every conversation was full with warmth, personal attitude and support.

I met Sneja in 2004 when we, together with other colleagues from the country, were preparing our participation in the ABLE project. Our deeper contacts came later when in 2007 when the Ambassador John Byerly opened American Shelf in the Silistra Library. Besides the books, the library received as a donation equipment, computer and color printer – extremely valuable acquisitions for us at that time. Later in 2012 we got one of the popular child computers for early literacy.

But I would like to write about an initiative, about which a few colleagues know. It was carried out by the ideas and the support of Snejana Ianeva – “Make your library green”. At a conference in Silistra in 2011 on a proposal and with the assistance of Snejana Ianeva a volunteer from the Peace Corps was sent to the Silistra library. With his help and together with the colleagues from Montana, we had to give ideas for work of the Bulgarian libraries on the initiative “Make green your library”. The Silistra Library received funding from the American Embassy for the start of this national initiative. The logo and the web page were worked out. In 2013 according to the idea of the colleagues from the Bulgarian Library and Information Association I presented the green ideas of our library on the international conference Future Library Unconference in Athens. More and more libraries started to work with different green ideas. The foundation “Global Libraries” ensured funding for small projects, directed to ecology and ecologic education. A great number of libraries joined these projects with various activities. The libraries in Vidin, Assenovgrad and Stara Zagora organized lessons about acquaintance and
preservation of the environment. Campaigns against pollution and decrease of the use of plastic and paper products were carried out in the libraries in Kazanlak, Vidin, Dolni Dabnik, Russe and Burgas. Reading programs, dedicated to the planet Earth took place in Sofia City Library and many other libraries. In 2018 quite unexpectedly I received an invitation to present Bulgaria on the first international conference of the green libraries, organized by the Zadgreb National Library. The first thing which I did was to telephone Sneja. We discussed a lot if there were suitable activities that I could present, should I cope with the task alone. But I wasn’t alone! I got in touch with colleagues, who I
knew for years and they sent me information about their initiatives. But during all the time in the course of a month Sneja was with me – with e-mails, phone calls, with answers to my questions and with support. From the first to the last day – to my presentation and my return home. Silistra is far from Sofia and my personal contacts with Sneja were not many. But I always knew that I had a name in the phone, a person whom I could call. In several phone calls Sneja told me one and the same sentence which her father had always repeated: “People are important”. People were important to Sneja, too. I know that she supported those who sought opportunities and I thank her that I was among the chosen ones!

Publication in the magazine of the Bulgarian Library and Information
Association, N1/2020 In memoriam