South Bohemian Scientific Library

The South Bohemian Scientific Library in České Budějovice has opened a modernized building on Lidická Street designed by the Atelier Kuba & Pilař architects for 168 million crowns. The extension created facilities for more than 100,000 books, which are now freely available to readers on shelves; previously, they were accessible in storage.
The library gained new spaces on Lidická Street with an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. The work lasted a year and a half, and the building was approved in January. Due to coronavirus measures, people will be able to enter only a quarter of a year after it was completed. The extension and technical solution were designed by the Brno-based Atelier Kuba & Pilař architects. The design was selected in an architectural competition.
As Pavel Hroch, the deputy governor for culture, told ČTK, a new building of this kind has been created in the city after many years, funded by public money. “The extension and reconstruction of part of the old library is a service to our readers. They will have a free choice of books in a beautiful environment, where around one hundred thousand volumes are located. I see that as a great advantage. Visitors have relaxation areas there, where they can read a bit, spend that first moment with a book. We also focused on disabled people since some of our clients are physically disabled, and they have (newly) barrier-free access, as in the old building there is an adjustment of individual sections so they can move everywhere,” said Hroch.
The region, as the library’s founder, received a European grant of 100 million crowns for the construction, the state contributed five million, and the rest was covered by the region. Ivo Kareš, the library’s director, told ČTK, “Combining the construction and operation of the library has not always been entirely simple. Throughout the duration of the construction, we have tried to minimize the impact of the construction constraints on the readers as much as possible,” stated Kareš in a press release.
Readers will have to adapt to a different way of searching for books. Unlike fiction, non-fiction has different rules for categorization. “An online catalog will be a great helper in this, guiding readers to the exact location in the library, to the specific shelf and section where the book is located,” said deputy director Zuzana Hájková.
The library on Lidická Street, as well as the building Na Sadech, opens for readers on April 26, and will be operational every weekday from Monday to Friday. Branches will open for three days a week due to the pandemic situation. The South Bohemian Scientific Library has 1.43 million volumes and 19,800 registered readers, including 4,800 children.