Kind of LibraryNumber
LibrariesBooks*Readers*Books Lent*
National 1 814 25 189
Local 27 5,287 259 4,807
Reading rooms 4,10820,3871,35920,744
Enterprises and government offices 2,110 6,532 537 4,984
Public schools 3,860 9,336 772 6,653
Universities 23 2,077 84 1,320
Specialized:
Science 115 1,409 29 507
Government 35 594 16 282
Party and public organizations 93 804 39 280
Technical 212 864 54 398
Medical 60 405 36 361
Theaters (archives) 133 443 6 34
Educational 14 152 8 57
Total specialized 662 4,671 188 1,919
TOTAL10,79149,1043,22740,616
* In thousands.

The so-called public reading room was another form of library. Founded by educated Bulgarians during the Turkish occupation as centers of culture and education, the reading rooms have become quite widespread, particularly in the villages, and supply books to farmworkers and other members of the rural population. In the early 1970s there were 4,108 reading rooms with over 20 million volumes.

FILMS

By 1947, after the new constitution had been enacted, the film industry became a state monopoly. The next year the new Law on Motion Pictures was passed, which essentially expanded on the theme of state control. It officially abolished free enterprise in the film industry and prohibited individual activities in the importation and exportation of films and the private operation of movie theaters. The film industry fell under the official control of the Bulgarian Cinematography Association, which was under the Department of Motion Pictures of the Committee for Science, Art, and Culture. By 1950 the entire film industry was under the complete control of the Council of Ministers. The Department of Motion Pictures became officially attached to the council.

One of the early laws regarding films stated that "the motion picture must become a real fighting assistant of the party and the government and be an ardent agitator and propagator of the government policy." The focus of the industry was to be placed on the building of socialism while increasing the country's bonds with the Soviet Union. Early legislation stated that "Soviet films gave immense educational influence and mobilized action and conscious participation in the building of socialism for still greater friendship with the Soviet Union." This emphasis on the relationship with the Soviet Union was not only ideological. Soviet films also represented approximately 87 percent of the films shown in Bulgaria from 1945 to 1956, and the Bulgarian film industry was in large part assisted by its film counterpart in the Soviet Union.

The film industry expanded quickly under the new government. There were 187 films produced in 1960 (see table 15). By 1965 there were approximately 2,000 motion picture houses, roughly 83 percent of which were in the villages.

Table 15. Bulgaria, Films Produced and Translated,
Selected Years, 1939-71

1939194819601971
Full length 3 ... 11 18
Art(3)... (10) (16)
Documentary...... (1) (2)
Television 0 0 0 19
Short and medium length... 19 110 252
Documentary...(15) (36) (60)
Popular science... (4) (32) (61)
Technical education...... (16) (21)
Animated...... (8) (16)
Propaganda...... (18) (94)
Previews... 53 66 58
TOTAL 3 72 187 347

In mid-1973 information on the film industry indicated that the production, distribution, importation, exportation, and exhibition of films were still controlled by the Bulgarian Cinematography Association. This agency was subdivided into three sections: the chief studio at the Bulyana film center where feature films and cartoons were produced; a second studio that produced documentary shorts and popular science films for schools; and a third studio that specialized in newsreels.

Relative to other European countries there was little importation or exportation of films. In mid-1973 data suggested that between 100 and 150 feature films were imported per year. These films generally came from the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries, although a few were imported from Italy, France, and Great Britain. The first Bulgarian film to be exported was The Chain, which was shown in Czechoslovakia in 1964. The same year another Bulgarian film, The Intransigents, was shown in Ireland, and still another, The Peach Thief, was shown in Great Britain. The precise number of Bulgarian films exported was unknown, although one writer claimed that in 1973 Bulgarian films were viewed in about seventy countries.