The National Library has a guarantor council, which is to address services and the new building

Prague - The concept of the future direction of the National Library, the provision of services during the renovation of Klementinum, or the possibility of constructing a new building will be addressed by the newly established guarantee council of the National Library. Michaela Lagronová, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, told ČTK. The guarantee council, chaired by the director of the City Library in Prague, Tomáš Řehák, met for the first time today at the ministry.

According to the spokesperson, Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (CSSD) composed the guarantee council so that it includes mainly experts long associated with library practice. They are expected to help address, besides the further direction of the institution, which depends on whether the new building will be constructed or not, also the current situation where part of the services is at the main headquarters in Klementinum and part in the depository in Hostivař. Zaorálek has repeatedly stated that this state is not sustainable. The Ministry of Culture has prepared material for the government regarding the construction of the new building, and they are currently addressing comments. The minister is also negotiating with Prague politicians about a possible location for the construction.

The nine-member guarantee council of the National Library also includes Pavel Janáček, director of the Institute of Czech Literature of the Academy of Sciences, Vít Richter, chairman of the Central Library Council from the National Library, Michal Pullmann, dean of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, Martin Svoboda, director of the National Technical Library, and Bohdana Stoklasová from the National Library.

The guarantee council, like in the case of other major contributory organizations of the Ministry of Culture, is an advisory body to the minister. The National Theater has had such a council for a long time, and shortly after his appointment, Zaorálek established the guarantee council for the National Gallery in Prague. This council mainly works on preparing a competition for a new executive director of the National Gallery. It is headed by architect Josef Pleskot, and the members have changed partially since last September.

The guarantee council of the National Theater was established by the then Minister of Culture back in 2013, and last week it met for the first time in the new composition. It has 13 members, and its members are appointed by the minister for four years. The chair of the guarantee council is the director of the Silesian Theater in Opava and former deputy minister of culture Ilja Racek.

Other members of the council include, for example, the artistic director of the Prague City Theaters and former head of the ND Drama Michal Dočekal, rector of the AMU Jan Hančil, former director of the Dejvice Theater Eva Kejkrtová Měřičková, former director of the National Theater Jiří Srstka, or the artistic director of the Theater Na Zábradlí Dora Viceníková.