New Perspectives in Science Education

The paper presents the results of the survey, titled ‘Library professionals in Bulgaria and the changing information ecosystem’, implemented among Bulgarian librarians in March 2022. The survey summarizes an overview of the current situation in Bulgaria on the information culture of the professionals, working in the libraries. It aims to examine the level of awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the changing global information environment among professionals working in Bulgarian libraries. The research methodology includes the implementation of empirical online survey and analyses of the dataset of answers of 200 respondents (relevant to above of 10% of all the emploees working in the Bulgarian libraries according to the Bulgarian Statistic Institute and its data out of 2022) using standard statistical methods and online desk research [1]. The aim of the paper is to show the findings and to analyze them in the context of the LIS research and practical field. Some issues came up to light and close attention must be paid to them. One of the most important problems is the lack of information Bulgarian librarians have on the Sustainable Development Goals and their relation to the library institution and the pessimism about the Trends established by IFLA in their Report (2013) [2] and the updates (2018, 2019, 2021) being applicable for Bulgarian libraries. This reflects on the ability of Bulgarian library and information specialists to effectively apply modern methods in serving user needs, as well as to implement long-term changes in the direction of modernizing the library institutions and their involvment in the society development. Researchers provides a set of recommendations for further developments. The focus of the future work should be on the communication of the Bulgarian librarians with their international colleagues from countries all over the world, exchange of good practices for developing the library services, participation in projects and initiatives on international level and collaboration with LIS academic education for lifelong learning activities.

Keywords: Librarians, Bulgaria, Sustainable Development Goals, IFLA Trend Report, Library and Information Sciences, Survey

References: [1] Bulgarian Statistical Institute (NSI) - Staff at the libraries by education, statistical regions and districts (2022). Available at https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/3615/staff-libraries-education-statistical-regions-and-districts (accessed 15 July 2023).

[2] IFLA Trend Report. (2013). Available at https://trends.ifla.org/files/trends/assets/insights-from-the-ifla-trend-report_v3.pdf (accessed 25 July 2023)