The library of the city of Ostrava is set for a large-scale renovation
The Central Library of the Library of the City of Ostrava (hereinafter referred to as KMO) is set to undergo extensive reconstruction of its inner spaces. On Monday, January 6, 2025, the construction site will be taken over by the company Miboro, s.r.o. The project is titled Open Library and aims to create a modern environment for users. The project will be financed from the resources of the European Union, the Integrated Regional Operational Program, 16th call IROP 2021–2027 LIBRARIES – SC 4.4 (ITI). The total project expenses are estimated at 36.2 million crowns, with pre-financing in the amount of 30.8 million secured by the founder, the statutory city of Ostrava. The expected duration of the construction modifications is 18 months.
During the reconstruction, the Central Library will maintain basic services for its users, totaling 92,000 annually at the given location. This is already occurring in the so-called Small Loan Room, located right across from the main entrance of the original Central Library. Librarians serve nearly 200 readers here daily. The costs for the preparation of the Small Loan Room reached nearly 296,000 CZK. Due to spatial limitations of 100 m², the Small Loan Room primarily offers the most sought-after titles from both Czech and world literature, as well as literature for children and youth, music literature, audiobooks, and titles from the English Library. Most documents are, however, stored in the warehouses and are available by order, not on open shelves.
Due to the difficult conditions for visitors during the reconstruction, the Library of the City of Ostrava is offering one of its main services for free. This is the free postponement of documents from the book collection of the Central Library. Starting in December, the Central Library will also have a new pickup box in front of the entrance from the Vítkovice company FurtodoBox s.r.o. This box will serve users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for picking up documents they have ordered from the Central Library. Another new pickup box will be installed at the Dr. Martínka branch in Ostrava-Hrabůvka. The library purchased both thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
The only specialized department that will remain operational during the reconstruction is the Sound Library for the blind and visually impaired. All services here remain unchanged. The lending hours are Monday afternoons from 12:00 to 17:00 and Tuesday from 8:00 to 13:00. The entrance is located in the passage from the street Na Hradbách. After the reconstruction, the scope of the Sound Library will be transferred to a completely new, significantly larger location, which will be accessible directly from the passage.
The Open Library project aligns with the strategy of the Library of the City of Ostrava, specifically with the goal that every visitor to the Central Library, regardless of their disadvantage, can move without barriers, communicate, and utilize the maximum offered services. “The basic intention is to obtain the most efficient space within a building that was last reconstructed more than 20 years ago,” notes Irena Šťastná, director of the Library of the City of Ostrava, adding: “It is also essential to modernize the interior furnishings. The result will be new interior insertions in the form of three mezzanines on the ground floor. The insertions above the ground floor will serve as reading rooms and quiet study areas. Study alcoves and relaxation zones will be created. A newly built reception will be located where the current cloakroom is, as its purpose has become significantly outdated. The reception will take over most administrative tasks associated with the lending processes. The spaces will be enriched, for example, by self-check devices, i.e., NEK PROFI panel units, which will allow users to self-service loan documents, as well as provide an overview of the status of their reader account, verify whether the selected books have been read in the past, etc.”
It will also be crucial to establish a new educational center. For this purpose, the current universal hall, which is accessible without barriers directly from the passage, will be used. The Sound Library for the blind and visually impaired will be relocated there. New equipment will also concern the Children’s and Youth Department, the American Center, and the English Library. In the American Center, in accordance with relevant trends in sustainability, there will be internal shading of the space. The English Library will be supplemented with new equipment, as well as rooms for language courses with new paint, lighting, and internal shading.
As part of the planned reconstruction, there will also be a significantly needed renovation of two passenger and three freight elevators in the building that ensure the distribution of books from the warehouse to the floors of the building. The selected elevators are also shared with the Chamber Stage Arena; however, their reconstruction will limit its operation only minimally.
“The proposal for the reconstruction was a beautiful adventure, to see whether the required functions can be squeezed into the existing interior, but it was equally exciting to discover forgotten history. The Italian origin ultimately influenced the new color design of the interior,” remarks Ing. Arch. Radim Václavík, who prepared the architectural solution for the spaces.
The history of the building housing the Library of the City of Ostrava dates back to 1881 when the building known as Theresienhaus was acquired by the Italian entrepreneur Luigi Facini. In 1929, however, the original building was demolished, and a new one was constructed, at that time in a very modern functionalist design. The uniqueness of the building is also highlighted by the fact that it is the only building in Ostrava with a passage. Both families and businesses were housed there. During the First Republic, many small entrepreneurs passed through, whether they were seamstresses, manufacturers of men's shirts, photography studios, laundries, or glass grinding businesses. Doctors and a pastry shop also had their offices there. In the 1940s, the building was purchased and also housed the Baťa company, which manufactured rubber goods and tires. In the 1950s, after the nationalization of the company, the state-owned enterprise Obnova was located there until the 1970s, continuing the production of rubber goods while also repairing shoes. In 1992, after negotiations with Tomáš Baťa, who did not raise a restitution claim, the building was acquired by the Library of the City of Ostrava. It moved in in November 1996 and started operations in September 1997.
“The Library of the City of Ostrava is the third largest public library in the country and operates 27 branches in addition to the Central Library in the city of Ostrava. In 2023, it served around 430,000 visitors and loaned nearly 1.2 million documents. This institution is crucial for the city not only as a provider of library services but also for its focus on communities—whether seniors, families with children, or the disabled. The reconstruction of the Central Library will create a cohesive and maximally usable space that will improve not only lending services but also community services,” adds Deputy Mayor Lucie Baránková Vilamová, emphasizing the significance of the project for the entire city.
During the reconstruction, the Central Library will maintain basic services for its users, totaling 92,000 annually at the given location. This is already occurring in the so-called Small Loan Room, located right across from the main entrance of the original Central Library. Librarians serve nearly 200 readers here daily. The costs for the preparation of the Small Loan Room reached nearly 296,000 CZK. Due to spatial limitations of 100 m², the Small Loan Room primarily offers the most sought-after titles from both Czech and world literature, as well as literature for children and youth, music literature, audiobooks, and titles from the English Library. Most documents are, however, stored in the warehouses and are available by order, not on open shelves.
Due to the difficult conditions for visitors during the reconstruction, the Library of the City of Ostrava is offering one of its main services for free. This is the free postponement of documents from the book collection of the Central Library. Starting in December, the Central Library will also have a new pickup box in front of the entrance from the Vítkovice company FurtodoBox s.r.o. This box will serve users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for picking up documents they have ordered from the Central Library. Another new pickup box will be installed at the Dr. Martínka branch in Ostrava-Hrabůvka. The library purchased both thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
The only specialized department that will remain operational during the reconstruction is the Sound Library for the blind and visually impaired. All services here remain unchanged. The lending hours are Monday afternoons from 12:00 to 17:00 and Tuesday from 8:00 to 13:00. The entrance is located in the passage from the street Na Hradbách. After the reconstruction, the scope of the Sound Library will be transferred to a completely new, significantly larger location, which will be accessible directly from the passage.
The Open Library project aligns with the strategy of the Library of the City of Ostrava, specifically with the goal that every visitor to the Central Library, regardless of their disadvantage, can move without barriers, communicate, and utilize the maximum offered services. “The basic intention is to obtain the most efficient space within a building that was last reconstructed more than 20 years ago,” notes Irena Šťastná, director of the Library of the City of Ostrava, adding: “It is also essential to modernize the interior furnishings. The result will be new interior insertions in the form of three mezzanines on the ground floor. The insertions above the ground floor will serve as reading rooms and quiet study areas. Study alcoves and relaxation zones will be created. A newly built reception will be located where the current cloakroom is, as its purpose has become significantly outdated. The reception will take over most administrative tasks associated with the lending processes. The spaces will be enriched, for example, by self-check devices, i.e., NEK PROFI panel units, which will allow users to self-service loan documents, as well as provide an overview of the status of their reader account, verify whether the selected books have been read in the past, etc.”
It will also be crucial to establish a new educational center. For this purpose, the current universal hall, which is accessible without barriers directly from the passage, will be used. The Sound Library for the blind and visually impaired will be relocated there. New equipment will also concern the Children’s and Youth Department, the American Center, and the English Library. In the American Center, in accordance with relevant trends in sustainability, there will be internal shading of the space. The English Library will be supplemented with new equipment, as well as rooms for language courses with new paint, lighting, and internal shading.
As part of the planned reconstruction, there will also be a significantly needed renovation of two passenger and three freight elevators in the building that ensure the distribution of books from the warehouse to the floors of the building. The selected elevators are also shared with the Chamber Stage Arena; however, their reconstruction will limit its operation only minimally.
“The proposal for the reconstruction was a beautiful adventure, to see whether the required functions can be squeezed into the existing interior, but it was equally exciting to discover forgotten history. The Italian origin ultimately influenced the new color design of the interior,” remarks Ing. Arch. Radim Václavík, who prepared the architectural solution for the spaces.
The history of the building housing the Library of the City of Ostrava dates back to 1881 when the building known as Theresienhaus was acquired by the Italian entrepreneur Luigi Facini. In 1929, however, the original building was demolished, and a new one was constructed, at that time in a very modern functionalist design. The uniqueness of the building is also highlighted by the fact that it is the only building in Ostrava with a passage. Both families and businesses were housed there. During the First Republic, many small entrepreneurs passed through, whether they were seamstresses, manufacturers of men's shirts, photography studios, laundries, or glass grinding businesses. Doctors and a pastry shop also had their offices there. In the 1940s, the building was purchased and also housed the Baťa company, which manufactured rubber goods and tires. In the 1950s, after the nationalization of the company, the state-owned enterprise Obnova was located there until the 1970s, continuing the production of rubber goods while also repairing shoes. In 1992, after negotiations with Tomáš Baťa, who did not raise a restitution claim, the building was acquired by the Library of the City of Ostrava. It moved in in November 1996 and started operations in September 1997.
“The Library of the City of Ostrava is the third largest public library in the country and operates 27 branches in addition to the Central Library in the city of Ostrava. In 2023, it served around 430,000 visitors and loaned nearly 1.2 million documents. This institution is crucial for the city not only as a provider of library services but also for its focus on communities—whether seniors, families with children, or the disabled. The reconstruction of the Central Library will create a cohesive and maximally usable space that will improve not only lending services but also community services,” adds Deputy Mayor Lucie Baránková Vilamová, emphasizing the significance of the project for the entire city.
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