About us

Beginnings (1920–1941)

On 2 February 1920, by a Decree signed by King Peter I of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje was founded. As an inseparable part of it, the library of the faculty was established at once. It was not conceived as an ordinary collection of books, but as a central faculty library serving all seminars and institutes, with the vision that over time each of them would develop a library of its own.

For the opening of the faculty and the library, one floor of the large building of the then Teachers’ School, known as Idadija, was chosen as the most suitable space. It was there that the foundation of what we recognise today as the National Library began to be built.

With the very founding of the library a dedicated librarian was appointed, although, regrettably, no records of that person’s identity survive today.

On 7 July 1921, by decision of the Ministry of Education, the Faculty of Philosophy together with the library received a new home — the building on the 13 October Quay (today’s Dimitar Vlahov Quay). The library would remain in this building until the devastating earthquake of 1963.

Within the library there was also a reading room, open throughout the day. In the autumn of 1921 it was opened to the public as well, giving citizens, alongside students, access to the book. In this way, Skopje received its first Central Public Library.

As the seminar libraries developed, the Central Library came to be headed by a Library Administrator, and the library continued to operate in this form until 1941.

The war and the People’s Library (1941–1944)

That year brought a grave turning point. Skopje fell under the rule of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. On 14 August 1941, the then Minister of National Education B. Filov issued Order no. 2234, by which the library of the Faculty of Philosophy, the library of the Skopje Scientific Society (founded in 1921) and the then City Library — founded in 1934 — were merged into a People’s Library in the city of Skopje.

With this order the City Library, housed in the “Goce Delčev” school, and the library of the Skopje Scientific Society ceased to exist, and the faculty’s central library grew into a People’s Library.

Under the Order, the People’s Library was governed by a director, and its departments by librarians.

Prof. Dr Georgi Šoptrajanov was immediately appointed its first director.

A difficult period followed. That same year the Faculty of Philosophy was abolished, and the entire building was placed at the disposal of the People’s Library.

Freedom and the birth of “Nova Makedonija” (1944)

With the liberation of Macedonia in 1944, by a Decision of ASNOM of 23 November, Georgi Šoptrajanov was confirmed as director of the People’s Library, and a new era in its development began. Šoptrajanov’s character embodied three qualities: honesty, unreserved devotion to the people, and tireless work to protect the collection.

In those decisive days, the printing press was “borrowed” from the library’s printing house and taken to Gorno Vranovci. It was on that very press, on 29 October 1944, that the first issue of the daily newspaper “Nova Makedonija” was printed.

Thus the library became a quiet but crucial witness to the birth of the Macedonian printed word.

The earthquake and the new building (1963–1972)

As early as 1961, the library’s growth made a new, purpose-built home a necessity. In 1962 an international competition for a conceptual design was announced, and that same year an exhibition of 62 proposed designs was held on the premises of the People’s Library. But difficult years would pass before it was realised.

In 1963 the devastating earthquake destroyed the library’s building and a considerable part of its collection.

After several competitions, construction of the new, purpose-built home of the People’s Library in Skopje began on 18 September 1967.

It was officially opened in 1972 as the second purpose-built library building in Federal Yugoslavia (the first being that of the National Library of Slovenia, built between 1936 and 1941) — the work of the masterful architect Petar Muličkovski.

University library and expansion (1959–2009)

In 1959/1960 the People’s Library took on another significant role and duty — it also became the University Library of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University.

In 2007 the need for additional storage space was established, as well as for a modern building for digitisation and the preservation of the special collections. To that end, construction of the annex — the Library’s new building — began on 12 April 2008. Ceremonially opened on 24 May 2009, together with the existing building it today covers a total of 13,000 square metres.

This is not merely a historical overview of an institution, but a true story about the people who believed in the book at a time when doing so was neither easy nor safe; about those who donated, kept, printed and rescued, knowing that without the written word there is no future.

About librarians, professors, conservators, custodians, benefactors and visionaries who built not just an institution, but memory itself.

And finally, this is the story of a home built not only of stone and concrete, but a home of knowledge, language, endurance and sacrifice. A home that stands open now, as it stood open a hundred years ago, ready to welcome everyone who believes that here the written cultural memory of this people is kept, and kept safe.