Еволюция на библиотечната роля в Босилеград от 1878 г. до днес
EVOLUTION OF THE LIBRARY ROLE IN BOSILEGRAD FROM 1878 TO THE PRESENT

Summary/Abstract: The present scholarly study traces the development and transformations of the library’s role in Bosilegrad from the Liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878 to the contemporary digital age. The analysis is based on historical documents, archival evidence, local studies, and field data, presenting the library not merely as an institution for the preservation of books but as a cultural, educational, identity-forming, and later – digital infrastructure of the local community. The development of librarianship in Bosilegrad is examined as a gradual, stage-based process in which each historical period introduces new functions and meanings – from the early school library collections and the chitalishta at the beginning of the 20th century, through the institutionalization during the socialist era, to its transformation into a key cultural and digital center in the 21st century. Special attention is devoted to the bilingual character of the region, the role of the library in preserving cultural heritage, and the contemporary challenges faced by a peripheral and demographically threatened municipality.

• Details
• Contents