HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ

Library - a Matter of Public

On Wednesday, June 13, 2018, from 13:00, a panel discussion called Library - a Matter of Public took place in the conference hall of the Study and Research Library in Hradec Králové.

The Czech Republic has the world's densest network of public libraries, visited by almost 24 million readers and visitors each year. Having a library in the village is a tradition associated with the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918. At that time, the newly adopted Library Act imposed on each municipality to establish and operate a library in order to complement and deepen the education of all sections of the population. This year, representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Regions, Municipalities, Libraries and their users meet in fourteen round tables. What should libraries focus on more in the future? What new services should they offer to their visitors? What should they change? Answers to these and other questions were sought and are sought by the discussion participants to accelerate the process of transforming public libraries into information, education, cultural and community centres of communities. At the Round Table in the Hradec Králové Region, with the participation of JUDr. Kateřina Kalistová, deputy minister of Culture for the Management of the Live Art Section, these panelists met: Mgr. Martina Berdychová, deputy governor of the Hradec Králové Region for Education, Culture and Sport, Mgr. Kateřina Churtajeva, head of the Department of Culture and Conservation of the Regional Authority of the Hradec Králové Region, MUDr. Zdeněk Fink, mayor of Hradec Králové, Ing. Anna Maclová, deputy mayor of Hradec Králové for social affairs, health, culture and tourism, Mgr. Eva Svobodová, Director of the Study and Research Library in Hradec Králové, Mgr. Barbora Čižinská, director of the Hradec Králové City Library and Ing. Dušan Šustr, chairman of the Rural Renewal Association of the Hradec Králové Region and mayor of Nepolisy. Among the many topics discussed, the issue of spatial possibilities of libraries and their funding or cooperation of libraries and schools in the education and training of the young generation often appeared. Round tables are organized by the Association of Librarians and Information Workers of the Czech Republic and the Association of Libraries of the Czech Republic with the auspices of the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, the Association for Rural Renewal and with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Mgr. Andrea Součková