| 34
Educational | 14 | 152 | 8 | 57
| ------ | ------ | ----- | ------
Total specialized | 662 | 4,671 | 188 | 1,919
| ------ | ------ | ----- | ------
TOTAL | 10,791 | 49,104 | 3,224 | 40,616
---------------------+-----------+--------+----------+-------------
* In thousands.

The so-called public reading room was another form of library. Founded
by educated Bulgarians during the Turkish occupation as centers of
culture and education, the reading rooms have become quite widespread,
particularly in the villages, and supply books to farmworkers and other
members of the rural population. In the early 1970s there were 4,108
reading rooms with over 20 million volumes.

FILMS

By 1947, after the new constitution had been enacted, the film industry
became a state monopoly. The next year the new Law on Motion Pictures
was passed, which essentially expanded on the theme of state control. It
officially abolished free enterprise in the film industry and prohibited
individual activities in the importation and exportation of films and
the private operation of movie theaters. The film industry fell under
the official control of the Bulgarian Cinematography Association, which
was under the Department of Motion Pictures of the Committee for
Science, Art, and Culture. By 1950 the entire film industry was under
the complete control of the Council of Ministers. The Department of
Motion Pictures became officially attached to the council.

One of the early laws regarding films stated that "the motion picture
must become a real fighting assistant of the party and the government
and be an ardent agitator and propagator of the government policy." The
focus of the industry was to be placed on the building of socialism
while increasing the country's bonds with the Soviet Union. Early
legislation stated that "Soviet films gave immense educational influence
and mobilized action and conscious participation in the building of
socialism for still greater friendship with the Soviet Union." This
emphasis on the relationship with the Soviet Union was not only
ideological. Soviet films also represented approximately 87 percent of
the films shown in Bulgaria from 1945 to 1956, and the Bulgarian film
industry was in large part assisted by its film counterpart in the
Soviet Union.

The film industry expa