The Library of Congress holds over 1700 journal titles from and about Bulgaria. Formats include printed volumes, microfilm reels, and full-text digital titles available via subscription databases. Categories of note are the many series of annuals from Sofia University, almost all of the journals from the various institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, news and business magazines, magazines for women, and several important historical titles from scholarly societies such as the Bulgarsko geografsko druzhestvo [Bulgarian geographical society], Bulgarsko istorichesko druzhestvo [Bulgarian historical society], and Bulgarsko ikonomichesko druzhestvo [Bulgarian economic society]. Collection strengths include history, literature, political and cultural life of Bulgaria, economics, and law. The majority of the titles are in Bulgarian, but some are in English, German, French, Armenian, Turkish, and Russian.
The Library of Congress has compiled a nearly complete list of journals and holdings titled Bulgarian Journals at the Library of Congress 1846-2010, but the list has not been updated for several years. For the most current information about our journal holdings, it is best to consult the Library of Congress online catalog. Databases containing full-text journals from Bulgaria are described in the section of this guide devoted to Onsite Only Electronic Resources.
Unbound issues of currently received journal titles are available in the European Reading Room, but most of the Bulgarian journal collection are bound volumes held in the general collections and may be requested in any general reading room.
The Bulgarian newspaper collection consists of over 200 titles on microfilm and in print. The earliest titles in the collection are reprints of newspapers published during the National Revival era such as Bulgarskyi orel [Bulgarian eagle], from 1846, the first Bulgarian newspaper ever published, and Georgi Rakovski's Budushtnost' [Future] and his Branitel' [Defender] from 1864. Later titles were added based on the policy that LC should collect newspapers that represent different viewpoints, thus in the collection are both Svoboda [Freedom], a newspaper that supported Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov, and Svobodno slovo [Free Word], an opposition paper against Stambolov, from the 1890s. During the communist era this concept of multiple viewpoints was the basis not only for acquiring newspapers from within the country, but also for those produced by the political diaspora. Today the Library maintains subscriptions to over 20 current newspapers representing various political parties, as well as specialty subject papers such as those for humor, literature, and religion. Examples of current subscriptions include Duma, 24 chasa, Pras Pres, Zemia, Rusiia dnes, and Bulgarska armiia. There are also diaspora titles from the United States and Ukraine. A complete listing of the Library of Congress holdings entitled Bulgarian Newspapers at the Library of Congress shows titles, holdings, format and location of the materials.
Preservation of newspapers and serials published on newsprint remains a top priority for the Library of Congress. For Bulgarian newspapers we continue to microfilm our holdings and are in the process of converting to digitization as the main method of preservation.
