National Library (NK) has announced a public tender for the completion of the depository in Hostivař. It should have a capacity of approximately three million volumes, and should be a guarantee for the deposit of funds by 2034. The maximum price of the contract is CZK 564 million. Library spokeswoman Martina Košanová announced this today. The time required to complete the construction is two years.
The depository, for the construction of which the 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 create the capacity necessary to build, process, manage and protect library collections, as well as to ensure the digitization and storage of digital content. Many of these activities require daily contact with the library collection.
The director of the National Library, Tomáš Foltýn, stated that the completion of the depository should also serve to ensure that the books do not have to be transported as much as they do today. According to the National Library, the completed depository of Hostivař should also contribute to the development of other important activities of the library, including research activities, its methodological work and support for libraries and other cultural institutions affected by, for example, natural disasters. It will allow to further diversify the storage of digital data. The National Library of the Czech Republic is thus able to ensure the long-term use of this area.
The completion of the depository is related to other events of the National Library, which include, in particular, the revitalization of the Klementinum. The next phase of the revitalization of the library’s headquarters in the center of Prague will follow on from the completion of construction work in Hostivař.
The National Library is trying to find the most effective way to prevent the restrictive effects of the Klementinum reconstruction on its users from the general public and other memory and educational institutions, said Foltýn.
The library wanted to solve the insufficient capacities in the Baroque Klementinum complex with a new building, so it announced an international architectural competition, in which Jan Kaplický’s design won 15 years ago. Despite the opposition of politicians, the construction failed to succeed, and the then management of the library and the Ministry of Culture decided to address the lack of space by reconstructing and completing the depositories in Hostivař. From there, cars with books drive to Klementinum twice a day, which is expensive and unfriendly for books. Therefore, for several years now, NK has been alternating more or less again towards new construction in the center.
The Klementinum has been being repaired for more than 12 years, and the money comes from the government’s National Cultural Treasure Care Program, which finances the reconstruction and new construction of public cultural institutions. It was approved by the government in 2006 and extended several times. Now he wants to extend it until 2026, mainly due to the still postponed completion date of the Klementinum repairs.
Source: CTK
