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Macedonia
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Directory Information
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History & Collections
The rich library tradition on the soil of the Republic of Macedonia whose roots stretch back to the deeds of the pan-Slavonic educators St. Cyril
(826-869) and St. Methodius (820-885) is the same foundation on which the Library began to build up and develop its activity. Its patron saint,
Clement of Ohrid (830-916), established the first monastic library in Ohrid in the Monastery of St. Panteleimon, and he is thus the founder of
librarianship in these parts.
The initial fund of books in the National and University Library "St. Kliment Ohridski" at its foundation in 1944 amounted to some 150,000 library
items. The majority of these were inherited from the Central Library of the pre-war Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, founded in 1920 in Skopje.
Besides the holdigns, the National and University Library "St. Kliment Ohridski" also inherited the modest premises of the Central Library of the
Faculty of Philosophy, located in the central city area, on the left bank of the River Vardar. The Library was open with 50 places for readers and 12
employees.
The documents which are of significance in confirming the status of the National Library of Macedonia were the ASNOM Decision of 18th January
1945 concerning the statutory depositing of an obligatory copy of all books published in Macedonia and the Decision of the National Committee for
the Liberation of Yugoslavia (8th February 1945) concerning the statutory depositing of a copy of all books published in Yugoslavia. Thus the
National and Univesrity Library became national deposit library and one of the eight Yugoslav deposit libraries. Since 1991 after the gaining of
independece by the Republic of Macedonia, the Yugoslav deposit has not been included in the Library's holdings.
In addition to its main functions as a national library, tha National and University Library is a general scientific and scholarly library of the Ss. Cyril
and Methodius University in Skopje as formally sanctioned by the 1960 Libraries Act of the People's Republic of Macedonia.
After the Faculty of Philosophy moved to new premises in 1952 the Library took over the entire premises of its previous building. The premises were
adapted which meant a significant improvement in the Library's working conditions and possibilities for development. It now had at its disposal 6,500
sq.m. which gave the opportunity to organise and set out the stock of books adequately, to increase the number of places for readers from 50 to 250
and to improve work conditions. During this period the activities of the Library were enhanced and new services were established which completed
the organisation of its work according to the customary patterns of national and university libraries: bibliographical service for preparation of the
national bibliography (1949); protection of the library material service (1953); the central library headquaters (1954).
The flood of November 1962 and shortly afterwards that the catastrophic earthquake of 26th July 1963 were unwelcome events which harshly and
cruelly interrupted the Library's development. The building was virtually completely destroyed and its stock of books, which at that time ammounted
to about 500,000, was in large measure either utterly destroyed or badly damaged.
In the first days after the earthquake some of the books were saved from the ruins and evacuated to Daut Pasha's Bath (Daut Pasin Amam). Soon
afterwards, at the beginning of 1964, they were removed from there and housed in custom-built prefabricated buildings. The construction of the
prefabricated buildings, with a total area of 1750 sq. m. of which 1200 were storage space, enabled the Libary to continue with its work. The Library
functioned on that site and in those restricted conditions for some eight years, until its removal to its new building in 1972. It was during this period
that the separate collections were established as well as the microfilm laboratory (1966) and the conservation and restoration laboratory (1970). In
1966 a separate bibliographical information service was incorporated into the organisational framework of the Library. On the basis of the experience
of this service the Referral Centre was later formed, in 1976, and a start made on the automation of work processes.
Eight directors have been in charge of the Library in the course of the past 50 years. In 1944 Prof. Dr. Gerogi Shoptrajanov was appointed the
Library's first director and remained in the post until 1946. There then followed: Emanuel Cuckov (1946/47), Epaminonda Popandonov (1948/51), Mitko
Zafirovski (1951/72), Dr. Ivan Katardzhiev (1972/78), Dimitar Solev (1978/87) and Vase Mancev, M.A. (1987/94). The present Director of the Library,
appointed in April 1994, is Vera Kalajlievska, M.A.
For its contributions to the scientific, scholarly, cultural and overall social development of the Republic of Macedonia the Library has to date received
numerous public awards and tokens of recognition, among which are: the Order of Service to the People with silver rays (1972), the 11th October
Award, the highest public recognition for particularly significant achievements in the field of science and scholarship in the interest of the Republic
Macedonia (1975), the Clement of Ohrid Award (1984) and the Diploma for Culture (1984).
Founded 1944; State copyright, central and deposit library; 3,000,000 volumes; special collections: Slav MSS, incunabula and rare books, oriental, music, maps and design, doctoral theses; publications: Makedonska bibliografija (3 series, quarterly), Bibliograpfia Makedonika (annually).
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