The South Bohemian Scientific Library has new facilities for 168 million CZK

Ceske Budejovice – The South Bohemian Scientific Library in Ceske Budejovice has opened a modernized building for 168 million crowns. An extension has been created, providing space for more than 100,000 books that are now freely available on shelves for readers, which previously were kept in storage. This mainly includes non-fiction literature. The library will open for readers on April 26, and will be operational every weekday. This was communicated to ČTK by representatives of the library and the South Bohemian Region.

The library has obtained new premises on Lidická Street with an area of nearly 2000 m². The work took a year and a half, and the building was approved in January. Due to coronavirus measures, people will only be able to enter a quarter of a year after it was completed. The extension and technical solution were designed by the Brno-based Atelier Kuba & Pilař architects. As Deputy Governor for Culture Pavel Hroch (South Bohemians 2012) told ČTK, a new building of this type has been created in the city after many years, funded by public money.

"The extension and renovation of part of the old library is a service to our readers. They will have a beautiful environment with free access to books, where around one hundred thousand volumes are located. I see this as a great plus. Visitors have relaxation zones there, they can read a bit, and spend that first moment with a book. We also focused on the disabled, because among our clients are people with physical disabilities, and they now have barrier-free access, as even in the old building, the arrangement of individual sections allows them to move around everywhere," Hroch said.

As the founder of the library, the region received a European grant of 100 million crowns for the construction, the state contributed five million, and the rest was covered by the region. ČTK was informed today by library director Ivo Kareš. "Combining the construction and operation of the library was not always completely straightforward. Throughout the construction, we tried to minimize the impact of construction restrictions on readers," Kareš stated in a press release.

Readers will have to get used to a different way of searching for books. Non-fiction literature has different classification rules compared to fiction. "An online catalog will be a great help in this, guiding readers to the exact location in the library, to the specific shelf and section where the book is located," said deputy director Zuzana Hájková.

The library on Lidická Street, like the building on Na Sadech, will be open from April 26 from Monday to Friday. Branches will open for three days a week due to the pandemic situation.

The South Bohemian Scientific Library has 1.43 million volumes and 19,800 registered readers, including 4,800 children. The South Bohemian Region allocated 60.7 million crowns to the library for operations this year.