With the proclamation of Sofia as capital of the new independent Bulgaria in 1879 starts the collection of literature in city organization, economy, book keeping, dictionaries, reference books etc in support of the municipality’s activities.
The first catalogue of the municipality’s book collection was made in 1898.
On 30.03.1944 the library suffers great losses by Allied bombing – the building on Banski Sq is destroyed. In 1945 the Library opens in a private building requisitioned by the state.
Since 1968 Sofia City Library is in the former municipality building on Gurko str. In 1987 this building was closed for renovation and never opened again.
October 24th 1928 is considered the birthdate of the Sofia city library. Back then it was established by the then-mayor gen. Vladimir Vazov. It had three departments – museum, library and archive. The book fund had 5311 volumes at the time.
