The Library of the Year 2021 is the Municipal Library in Statenice

Prague – The Library of the Year 2021 has today been awarded to the Municipal Library in the Central Bohemian village of Statenice. The award was presented today by the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (CSSD) in the Mirror Chapel of Klementinum, the seat of the National Library (NK). Last year, the awards were presented online due to measures against the spread of the pandemic, which is why the names of all last year's laureates were announced once again today. In both categories, the first prize is associated with a reward of 70,000 CZK.

The Statenice Municipal Library is located in a newly reconstructed building, whose extension allowed the expansion of traditional library services to include various community-type activities. Over the past five years, the library has become, according to the jury, the living room of the village, whose activities, along with the librarians, involve volunteers and influence cultural, social, and even political events in the municipality. The library has also named its website www.obyvakvesnice.cz.

The library collaborates with libraries from neighboring municipalities and the local kindergarten, organizes a film club, creative workshops, author readings, and discussions, for example with the mayor about events in the municipality. For its activities, the library utilizes opportunities for multi-source financing, the number of readers and visitors is growing, and this year it has extended its opening hours to the public.

"We thank the municipal leadership for supporting us, even though we keep coming up with new ideas of what we would like to do, but sometimes the administration does not allow it, it can be a struggle. A personal thanks goes to my almost ninety-year-old grandmother, who led me to this field and showed me what libraries can achieve," said Statenice librarian Barbora Černohorská, who also thanked her colleague Zuzana Brychtová Horecká at Klementinum.