National Library Of The Czech Republic
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The National Library of the Czech Republic ( cs, Národní knihovna České republiky) is the central library of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
. It is directed by the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...
. The library's main building is located in the historical
Clementinum The Clementinum (''Klementinum'' in Czech) is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries; the City Library was also nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. In 2009, the ...
building in the centre of
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, where approximately half of its books are kept. The other half of the collection is stored in the district of Hostivař. The National Library is the biggest library in the Czech Republic, housing around 6 million documents. The library currently has around 20,000 registered readers. Although comprising mostly Czech texts, the library also stores older material from Turkey, Iran and India. The library also houses books for
Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...
.


History

In the 13th century, the ''Studium generale'' school was founded in the Dominican
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
in Prague's
Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
. This school, including its library, merged with the university in the 14th century. In 1556,
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s of the
Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
erected a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
, named ''Clementinum'', on the remains of the Dominican monastery. From 1622 on, the Jesuits also administrated the
Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...
, and all their libraries were accommodated in the Clementinum. After the
suppression of the Jesuits The suppression of the Jesuits was the removal of all members of the Society of Jesus from most of the countries of Western Europe and their colonies beginning in 1759, and the abolishment of the order by the Holy See in 1773. The Jesuits were ...
, the university became a state institution in 1773, and in 1777 its library was declared "Imperial-Royal Public and University Library" by
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
. Even after the splitting of the university into a Czech and a German university in 1882, the library remained as a joint institution. In 1918, the Public and University Library was taken over by the government of the newly founded
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. In 1924, the Slavonic Library (''Slovanská knihovna'') was founded, and moved to the Clementinum in 1929; it is still an autonomous part of the National Library. In 1935, the library was renamed "National and University Library" (''Národní a univerzitní knihovna''). In the same year, a law on the
legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...
copy duty was introduced – a practice dating back to 1781, when Prague
printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jam ...
had to hand in legal deposit copies of their prints to the library. Although Czech universities and colleges were closed after the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
in 1939, the library remained open under the name of "Municipal and University Library" (''Zemská a univerzitní knihovna''). In 1958, all large Prague libraries were merged into the single centralized State Library of the Czechoslovak Republic (''Státní knihovna CSR''). In 1990, the hitherto last renaming of the library resulted in its current name: National Library of the Czech Republic. A new storage building, the Central Depository in Hostivař, was inaugurated in 1996.


Collections

The most precious medieval manuscripts preserved in the National Library are the
Codex Vyssegradensis The Vyšehrad Codex (Latin ''Codex Vyssegradensis''), also known as the ''Coronation Gospels of King Vratislaus'', is a late 11th-century illuminated Romanesque Gospel Book, which is considered the most important and most valuable manuscript kept ...
and the
Passional of Abbes Kunigunde The Passional of Abbess KunigundeAlternative names: ''Passional of Abbess Cunegund'', ''Passional of Abbess Kunhuta''. is an illuminated Latin manuscript commissioned by Prague Benedictine Abbess Kunigunde of Bohemia, daughter of King Ottokar II o ...
.


Digitisation

The National Library of the Czech Republic began with their
digitisation DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer- ...
efforts in 1992 in collaboration with the Czech company AiP Beroun. In these efforts, the National Library conducted pioneer work on a global scale in the creation of digitization standards. Later, it got involved in a number of European projects, in which it came to additional developments particularly standards regarding manuscripts and old prints. It also supported several pilot projects at the time of their creation and the first years of the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Memory of the World Programme Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
(with the programme's first pilot project being from the National Library of the Czech Republic in 1993). The library won international recognition in 2005 as it received the inaugural
Jikji Prize ''Jikji'' () is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document whose title can be translated to "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings".UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
Memory of the World Programme Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
for its efforts in digitising old texts. In its first 13 years since 1992, the project accomplished the digitisation of 1,700 documents and made them publicly available. The National Library makes its digital content available in the digital libraries ''Manuscriptorium'' (http://www.manuscriptorium.com/en) and ''Kramerius'' (http://kramerius5.nkp.cz). Manuscriptorium comprises more than 111,000 manuscripts and old prints, with almost 84,000 of them contributed by the National Library and the remainder from 138 partners from 24 countries. Since 2008, when
Europeana Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought togethe ...
, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's digital platform for
cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
, came into existence, Manuscriptorium contributes manuscripts and old prints digitised by libraries all over the Czech Republic and by other partners to the Europeana platform and several other specialised portals, including professional academic Resource Discovery services, e.g. of EBSCO, ProQuest and ExLibris. In a collaborative project with
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, additional old prints and early 19th century books from the Slavonic Library have been digitised, with altogether more than 177,000 books digitised by Google (as of October 2018). These books are accessible through the
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
digital library as well as through the National Library's Catalogue of Old Prints and the Catalogue of the Slavonic Library, and the old prints gradually also through Manuscriptorium. The Kramerius digital library contains digitised documents published after the year 1800. So far, more than 2,000 periodical series have been digitised. The number of digitized books continues to grow, especially after mass digitization of modern prints in context of the National Digital Library project.


Proposed new building

In 2006, the Czech parliament approved funding for the construction of a new library building on Letna plain, between Hradčanská metro station and
Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...
's football ground,
Letná stadium Letná is a hill overlooking Prague historic centre and Vltava River just besides Prague Castle. It neighbours Stromovka, the largest park in Prague. The hill belongs to Holešovice and Bubeneč quarters of Prague 7. The main part of Letná is Le ...
. In March 2007, following a
request for tender An invitation to tender (ITT, otherwise known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business ...
, Czech architect
Jan Kaplický Jan Kaplický (; ; 18 April 1937 – 14 January 2009) was a Neofuturistic Czech architect who spent a significant part of his life in the United Kingdom. He was the leading architect behind the innovative design office, Future Systems. He was bes ...
was selected by a jury to undertake the project, with a projected completion date of 2011. Later in 2007 the project was delayed following objections regarding its proposed location from government officials including Prague Mayor
Pavel Bém Pavel Bém (born 18 July 1963) is a Czech physician and politician. Between 28 November 2002 and 30 November 2010 he served as the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague, and re-elected in 2006. On 19 November 2006 he was elected Deputy Leader o ...
and President
Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the secon ...
. Plans for the building had still not been decided in February 2008, with the matter being referred to the Office for the Protection of Competition in order to determine if the tender had been won fairly. Later in 2008, Minister of Culture
Václav Jehlička Václav Jehlička (born on 24 March 1948 in Domažlice) is a Czech politician. In 1996 he was elected a member of the Senate and from January 2007 to May 2009 he was Minister of Culture. He worked as a teacher until 1990. Then he served two ful ...
announced the end of the project, following a ruling from the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
that the tender process had not been carried out legally.


Incidents

The library was affected by the
2002 European floods In August 2002, a week of intense rainfall produced flooding across a large portion of Europe. It reached the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine and Russia. The event killed 232 ...
, with some documents moved to upper levels to avoid the excess water. Over 4,000 books were removed from the library in July 2011 following flooding in parts of the main building. There was a fire at the library in December 2012, but nobody was injured in the event.


See also

*
List of national and state libraries A national library is established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valua ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1777 establishments in Europe Organizations established in 1777
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
Libraries in the Czech Republic Buildings and structures in Prague Culture in Prague History of Prague