The National Library announced a competition for the completion of the depository for half a billion CZK

Prague – The National Library (NK) has announced a public competition for the completion of a repository in Hostivař. It should have a capacity of approximately three million volumes, ensuring the storage of collections until 2034. The maximum price of the contract is 564 million crowns excluding VAT. This was stated today by the library spokesperson Martina Košanová in a press release. The construction is expected to take two years.

The National Library is legally responsible for the permanent preservation of Bohemical literary cultural heritage. The annual increase in collections is around 100,000 volumes.

The repository, for which NK is now announcing a competition, is to have a usable area of 9,685 square meters. In addition to storing books, the building will include capacities necessary for the creation, processing, management, and protection of library collections, as well as for ensuring digitization and storage of digital content. Many of these activities require daily contact with the library collection.

The director of NK, Tomáš Foltýn, stated that the completion of the repository is also intended to reduce the need for moving books as frequently as today. According to NK, the newly completed repository in Hostivař will also contribute to the development of other important activities of the library, including research activities, its methodological influence, and support for libraries and other cultural institutions affected, for example, by the impacts of natural disasters. It will also allow for further diversification in the storage of digital data. Thus, the National Library of the Czech Republic is capable of ensuring the long-term use of this facility.

The completion of the repository is related to other projects of the National Library, primarily the long-standing revitalization of Klementinum. The next phase of the revitalization of the main library headquarters in the center of Prague will follow the completion of construction work in Hostivař.

The National Library is trying to find the most effective way to prevent the limiting effects of the Klementinum reconstruction on its users from the general public and other memory and educational institutions, Foltýn stated.

The library wanted to address the insufficient capacity in the Baroque complex of Klementinum by constructing a new building, and thus announced an international architectural competition, in which the design by Jan Kaplický won 15 years ago. Despite political resistance, the construction could not be realized, and the then leadership of the library and the Ministry of Culture decided to address the lack of space through renovation and the completion of repositories in Hostivař. Trucks transport books to Klementinum twice a day, which is costly and harsh on the books. Therefore, for several years, NK has been alternatingly reconsidering more or less the idea of building a new facility in the center.

The Klementinum has been under repair for more than 12 years, with funding coming from the government’s Program for the Care of the National Cultural Heritage, which finances renovations and new buildings for public cultural institutions. The government approved it back in 2006 and has extended it several times. It now aims to extend it until 2026, especially due to the repeatedly postponed completion date of the Klementinum repairs.