The Czech
Republic

National Libraries

National Library of the Czech Republic
This library was founded in connection with Charles University in Prague, in 1348. The goals of the library are "to be the archive library for documents issued on the territory of the Czech lands and to be a public research library especially in the domain of humanities, pure natural sciences, culture, and arts." The website is very user-friendly and very informative. Some of the practical information that the website provides includes; addresses and contact numbers, access information, hours of operation, and catalog and database information. Most pages have last updated dates and all are 2000 or 2001. Almost all of the links are available in English although the searches are done in Czech.

Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
The homepage for this library contains many links, both to pages providing more information about the library as well as links to online databases and information resources (JStor, Ebesco Host, Web of Science). The library has over one million items including over 20,000 old and rare books and manuscripts. The library contains a computer room. The electronic resources available there are listed under the "Computer Room" link. Contact, organizational and directional information is easy to get to from the menu. A brief description of each department and the name of its head are also provided.

The Documentation and Information Center and Human Rights Library
The link above leads to the homepage for the Czech Helsinki Committee. Click on Library in order to get to information on the library for this organization. This is a reference only (non-circulating) library, which collects materials having to do with human rights both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The library keeps books, news clippings, journals as well as several CD-Roms. The internet is available for searching human rights related material only. Contact information is provided; it appears as though the site was last updated during 2000.

National Medical Library
This library is located in Prague and was established in 1949 under the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. It grew from a medical library that had been originally founded in 1840. The library contains over 100,000 items. There is access to online database and catalog searches with instruction in English. There is a wonderful gallery with digitized images from old books and papers. The explanations of what is in the gallery are only available in Czech. There are links to another medical libraries in the Czech Republic as well as the rest of Europe.

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University Libraries

Masaryk University Library
This university is located in Brno. The site was last updated in July 2001. The site is actually a central location to get information about the eight different central libraries on the campus, plus so called sub-libraries throughout Brno. There is no one central university library. The eight libraries are: Economy, Arts, Informatics, Medicine, Education, Law, Sciences and Social Sciences. There is web access to seven of the eight catalogs. You can get the address and contact information for each of the central libraries, as well as a photo of the library. There is also a link to a map showing where each library is located.

Charles University Faculty of Arts Libraries
Charles University in Prague is the major university of the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, this site with links to some of the major libraries is not as useful as some of the other sites this digital library has links to. Most of the Charles University libraries listed do not seem to have websites and only a few of the libraries that do, have their pages translated into English. At the very least, an English speaker could get the address, contact information, and opening hours of the library from the Czech sites.

Czech Technical University Libraries
From this home page, most of the links provided (library policy, resources and services) are only available in Czech. However, this main page links eight different technical subject libraries at the university. They are:

• The Library of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture
• The Library of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• The Library of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• The Library of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering
• The Library of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences
• The Library of the Masaryk Institute of the Advanced Studies
• The Library of the Klokner Institute
• The Library of the Computing and Information Centre

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Public Libraries

The Research Library of Southern Bohemia
This library has been named the largest public library in Southern Bohemia with over 1,000,000 volumes. It was originally founded in 1885 but has changed names and locations several times. This site is useful for learning a little about the history of the library. Opening hours, contact information, and structure of the library are easy to find on the site. There is access to the Czech language online catalog as well as a complete listing of currently received periodicals.

The Municipal Library of Prague
The first public library opened in 1891 in Prague. Today, there is this Central Library and over fifty library branches in Prague. This website provides contact information for each branch as well as general information for the city. This is the only website in this digital library which contains a page directed at foreigners explaining what a non-Czech citizen needs to do in order to use the library. The Central Library and several of the branches maintain electronic catalogs and databases, and all are working towards making sure that all of the branches are online within the next couple of years. There is detailed information about the mission, goals, current weak points and structural organization of the library. Most of the pages have not been updated since 1999 so much of the well-presented and detailed information may be different now.

Kromeriz Public Library
There are three departments which make up this library: adult services, children services and a music department. A short description of what is available in each department, as well as the hours of operation and contact information for each are given. The library first opened in 1896 as a part of the Kromeriz Museum. The website provides a timeline for the library which is interesting to look over.

Municipal Library of Mlada Boleslav
In 1901 a reading room was opened in Mlada Boleslav. It offered 140 magazines and soon became so popular that in 1909 the town decided to establish a library. The library is available to all citizens of the Czech Republic. There are no dates on the website but all of the links work and the information provided is useful. There are descriptions of the library's services, departments and policies as well as hours of operation and explanation of computer services available.

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