The National Technical Library is visited by 1000 people daily

Prague - Approximately a thousand people visit the National Technical Library (NTK) in Prague's Dejvice every day, and during exam periods, the number of visitors significantly increases, said Naděžda Nová from the NTK marketing and education department to ČTK. This Thursday marks a year since the opening of the new technical library building, which is scoring points in architectural competitions. This year, it became the winner of the Grand Prix of Architects, and the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA) nominated it for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Award).
    The State Technical Library (STK), located in Klementinum, was visited by around 50,000 readers annually. "At NTK, this number has nearly increased to 300,000 and is still rising," Nová told ČTK.
    The library regularly conducts surveys among its readers, among other things on social media, and draws inspiration from their suggestions. "For instance, the survey revealed that customers would like the library to be divided into a quiet and a loud zone," Nová disclosed. At the request of students, the librarians declared the sixth floor as a quiet zone. Signs and stickers under the floor plan draw attention to it. The night study room is reportedly very popular with students, and its capacity had to be increased.
    Since this summer, the library has launched several innovations. Readers now have the opportunity to use self-service printers and copiers, public computers have been made available, and a reservation system for study room rentals has begun to operate. NTK aims to announce more innovations at a press conference being held on Thursday morning to mark the first anniversary of the library's opening.
    The building was designed by architects from AK Architekti - the office currently goes by the name Projektil Architekti. The building, designed by architects Roman Brychta, Adam Halír, Václav Králíček, and Petr Lešek, is characterized by the elegant shape of a rounded square and also features low energy consumption thanks to its double-skin facade design. NTK has a unique heating and cooling system that utilizes the thermal mass of its structure.
    The building also houses non-technical literature, as one of the branches of the Prague Municipal Library is located on the ground floor. People can also come to the building for coffee, art exhibitions, or lectures.
    The construction of the library cost 2.25 billion Czech crowns. The financing was handled by the contracting company, which the state is supposed to repay for the library by 2014.