history -- projects VISK -- collection
The library at the Museum of Czech Literature is a specialist museum library which systematically acquires, processes, and safekeeps printed testimony of the development of literature and literary culture in the historical realm of Bohemia, and makes this testimony available for studies. The library presents the scientific community with the output of Czech printing presses from the end of the 18th century until today and with a collection of manuscripts and old prints, for study on the premises.
The history of the library is intimately connected with the establishment of the Museum of Czech Literature in 1952. In the beginning, this institution administered not only Strahov Monastery and its library, but also a barrage of material that had been confiscated in closed monastic libraries. Aside from these historic libraries, the Vilímek lending library was acquired in 1953, forming - along with the library of the National Cultural Committee - the nucleus of the modern-era book collection. In the following decades, the library was expanded primarily by acquiring entire sets of books owned and collected by major Czech writers and scholars of literature, as well as other personages of Czech culture (K. Biebl, V. Černý, V. Holan, J. Hora, V. Nezval, A. Pražák, J. Thon, K. Steinbach, and other), archive libraries of publishing houses (Fr. Borový, B. M. Klika, and others), and collector's libraries (J. Karásek of Lvovice). After 1989, the PNP library enriched its resources with exile and samizdat publications of books. The acquisition policy of the PNP Library seeks, among other things, to create topical library units (such as the set of books that have won the contest "Most Beautiful Czech Book" from 1965 until present, a collection of spelling books (primers), cook books, etc.)
The changes brought about after 1989 made an impact not only on the composition of the library's resources (for instance, based on act No. 298/1990 Coll., 1004 manuscripts, 164 first prints, and 8007 old prints were returned to their rightful owners during 1992 - 2004), but also their storage. The modern depository in the "forester's lodge" aside, which the library acquired in 2005, the issue of where to store the bulk of the library's resources remains an open question. Nonetheless, and with the support of the Czech Ministry of Culture (ISO program), the depositories are being modernized and their integrity is being preserved.
Since 1993, the traditional card catalogues are being gradually replaced by a new electronic catalogue, the first records of which were created under the ISIS/MAKS system. Since 2001, the library has been creating and updating an electronic catalogue under the integrated Advanced Rapid Library (@RL) system. The digitization of card catalogues is part of the national retro-conversion program VISK 5, which has been pursued since 2004. Since 2001, the PNP Library features public internet access.
The library is a member of the Library Association, and participates in the CASLIN index catalogue; it also contributes to the project for national name authority files. In 2002, the collections depositories of the library were registered with the Central Register of Collections at the Ministry of Culture and the library was registered as a public library.
Library reference No.: 3223/2002 (Library at the Museum of Czech Literature)
