THE HISTORY OF THE “EMANUIL VASKIDOVICH” LIBRARY IN THE TOWN OF SVISHTOV (FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION TO INSTITUTIONALIZED MEMORY)

Abstract

At the “Elenka and Kiril D. Avramovi – 1856” Community Centre (Chitalishte) in Svishtov, approximately 200 volumes from the personal library of Emanuil Vaskidovich are preserved in a specially designated section named after him. These volumes are part of the 800 titles he bequeathed to the First Bulgarian Community Centre upon its founding. The collection is marked by great linguistic and thematic diversity. It contains a significant number of textbooks, attesting to the high educational level of its owner, as well as later acquisitions representing examples of Greek book publishing. The books include educational aids, periodicals, religious treatises, scientific works, dictionaries and psalters, chrestomathy texts, poetry, and works by classical authors. The present article explores how this valuable literary corpus has been preserved to this day thanks to its status as property of the community centre.