<div>Tým Národní knihovna má hledat řešení dva až tři měsíce</div> <div>The National Library team has to search for a solution for two to three months.</div>

Prague - The solution to the situation surrounding the new building of the National Library (NK) is now in the hands of a team composed of representatives of interested institutions and three expert groups. They include architects, preservationists, and lawyers. Mayor Pavel Bém stated at today's press conference that the National Library team should work for about two to three months, starting this Saturday.
    The mayor, after today's meeting with NK Director Vlastimil Ježek, stated that the current issues to be addressed are "what to do with the National Library, with which National Library, and where to put the National Library." According to him, politicians should not be involved in the confrontations now, but experts - alongside architects and preservationists, lawyers who need to assess certain proposed solutions. Members of the team were proposed by NK after consulting with Kaplický, Ježek stated.
    The team's fundamental task is, according to Bém, to try to place the library in a different location - whether in Letná or on another plot. "Not on the periphery, but on a dignified plot with good transport accessibility," Bém said. However, for the building to stand on the originally designated plot, it is, according to him, "completely unrealistic." When asked by journalists if he had a personal opinion on where Kaplický's building should stand, the mayor said he did not.
    If the building that won the architectural competition is to be built on the original plot, a change to the zoning plan must be made. According to Bém, this would take two years. He claims to imagine that the city might make an exclusive exception but is concerned about other investors who would then also demand such an exception.
    "If we do not receive an exclusive exception, the plot in Letná is off the table for us," said Bohdana Stoklasová, director of modern collections at NK. The library has said since the beginning of the competition preparations that it must start building in such a time that the library stands by 2011; it also conditions the construction in Letná on the coordination with the construction of the local tunnel. If the NK does not have a new building for its collections by the mentioned year, it will reportedly face spatial constraints.
    The National Library team includes, alongside Bém and Ježek, the author of the library proposal Jan Kaplický, the first deputy minister of culture František Mikeš, the director of the City Development Department Bořek Votava, the director of the heritage department of the city hall Jan Kněžínek, and the director of modern collections at NK Bohdana Stoklasová.
    The ten-member expert committee of architects includes figures such as Jakub Cígler, Josef Pleskot, David Vávra, Roman Koutský, and Petr Bílek, while the group of preservationists includes Michael Zachař and Jiří Kotalík, and among the lawyers are Miroslav Jansta and Aleš Pejchal.
    "Both of us realize the significance, even the necessity, of searching for space for the new building of the National Library, to free up space in Klementinum that needs to be reconstructed," the mayor stated.
    Regarding the issues on which he and Ježek agree, he further mentioned finding a location where the building should stand. Both are also, according to Bém, aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the originally designated plot in Letná. "I do not know the solution to the current situation; I just know that it is necessary to search for it," he said.
    Bém also presented a survey he conducted among Prague representatives, particularly those from ODS who initiated the current debate about the library. Of the 63 questionnaires returned, 35 supported Kaplický's library in Letná, 20 abstained, and 18 said "no." If the same question were to be voted on, 36 votes would be needed for the proposal to pass.
    According to Jiří Černický, the initiator of the petition for Kaplický's building in Letná, most representatives do not know the proposal for the building. "Some are richer in information, while others decide with less knowledge," the mayor commented, and Ježek stated that he considers it his mistake that the study of Kaplický’s NK was not presented more to the representatives. Bém also mentioned that he would strive to ensure that Kaplický could personally present his project to the representatives, as some of them requested today.