On May 14th, 2026, the closing event of the 20th National Library Week and the 16th ceremony for the presentation of the Annual Library Awards of the Bulgarian Library and Information Association (BLIA) took place at the “Kvadrat 500” National Gallery.
The University Library was honored with the “Library of the Year 2025” Award. The library’s director, Assoc. Prof. Bilyana Yavrukova, received the honorary plaque from the chair of the BLIA, Assoc. Prof. Kalina Ivanova, and expressed her gratitude for the recognition from the library community. Assoc. Prof. Yavrukova emphasized that this would not have been possible without the support of the Sofia University’s rectorate and the dedicated professionals who work at the University Library.
The Academic Council of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” unanimously nominated the University Library for its overall efforts to support the development of Open Science and digitalization in 2025. Through its digital collections, the University Library provides permanent full-text access to over 50 000 academic publications by Sofia University scholars, to the most sought-after and important educational resources, and to the digitalised cultural heritage preserved in its collections. The software, implemented during the year, uses modern technology that ensures integration with the Bulgarian Portal for Open Science, enabling Sofia University to become the largest content provider on the portal. In 2025, the University Library actively provided institutional support for the publication of scholarly journals, as well as technical assistance with creating journal websites and retrospective import of journal issues. These actions significantly increase the jounals` visibility and facilitates their indexing in international databases.
The BLIA`s decision to present the University Library with the “Library of the Year 2025” Award is a recognition of the impressive professional achievements of the librarians that work there.
The Dean of the Faculty of Educational Studies and the Arts at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” Prof. Milen Zamfirov, presented the University Library with the faculty’s special award for improving the access to the library’s resources to people with disabilities and for digitalizing educational resources for students with visual impairments.
