The first library with Bulgarian children's books will open in Vienna in the beginning of 2021. Thus, children living in Austria’s capital will be able to feel the magic of Bulgarian fairy tales and stories and enrich their knowledge in their mother tongue through Bulgarian literature.

In January next year, 250 book volumes donated by compatriots in Austria and Bulgaria will be available for children under 14 in the library. Before coming to pick up a book, young readers will be able to select it in a specially created online library. Elin Pelin, Ran Bosilek, Angel Karaliychev, Yordan Radichkov are just some of the authors who will reveal the richness and secrets of the Bulgarian language to the children.

"Many families living in Vienna would like their children to speak Bulgarian- Evdokia Tsvetichova who is one of the library's founders said for Radio Bulgaria. - It turns out that weekend schools in Vienna are not enough to meet the needs of language learners. That's why Petja Reiss and I decided to establish a library within the premises of her kindergarten. The parents welcomed our idea very warmly, took it to heart and started working with us.”

According to official data of Vienna Municipality, 20,700 Bulgarians live in Austria’s capital city. However, our compatriots assume that their number is much higher and there are nearly 4,000 children in Vienna. Most children attend weekend schools and speak their mother tongue, but there are also children who find it difficult to speak Bulgarian and cannot read in Bulgarian. That is why the founders of the libraryintend to establish a kindergarten, which will be visited once a week.

"We want to turn the library into an educational center in which children have access to Bulgarian culture, language and art mostly through games, - Evdokia Tsvetichova went on to say. - Currently, the Bulgarian children do not have their own center where they can meet and get acquainted with each other. However, there are organizations in Vienna that are actively engaged in culture and cinema and invite writers on a regular basis. We will contact them and work together. This initiative is not launched by one organization only, but is open to everyone.”

One of the forthcoming tasks of the library’sfounders is to establish contacts with Bulgarian publishing houses in order to enrich theirbook fund. In the long run, they are planning to cooperate with weekend schools, organize meetings with writers and literary premieres.

Due to the strict anti-epidemic measures adopted in Austria against the spread of the coronavirus infection, some of the ideas may have to wait. "This is a long-term initiative," Evdokia Tsvetichova said further. "Bulgarian culture and language must live everywhere- in Austria, America, Australia, etc."Evdokia added.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

Photos: private library