Access to Documents Included in Modern Archival Holdings of the National Library of the Czech Republic
Written Instruction
National Archival Collection - an archival collection of documents published on the today´s territory of the Czech Republic (or Czechoslovakia) from 1901 to the present and complemented by foreign Bohemical documents. The collection is based on one of the two legal deposit copies acquired in the National Library of the CR (NL) and it is of a strictly archival character. Its task is the long-term preservation of book collections.
Archival Collection of the Bohemical production of the 19th Century – an archival collection of documents published on the today´s territory of the Czech Republic (or Czechoslovakia) from 1801 to 1900 and complemented by foreign Bohemical documents.
Hostivař Archival Collections - an archival collection of thematic wholes: address books, calendars, militaria, annual reports of Czech and German schools (secondary schools, high schools and colleges, universities) and dissertations defended at domestic universities and colleges, partly also at universities in Slovakia, until 1996 (Diss D, Diss T, Kand.); personal libraries of eminent Czech artists and bibliophiles, out of which the most important are Vlček´s Library (shelf mark 60), Čech´s Library (shelf mark 63) and Šalda´s Library (shelf mark 71); periodiclas in German and Hungarian published on the territory of the Czech Republic or former Czechoslovakia till 1945 (shelf mark 52).
Library items kept in the aforementioned collections are made available to the NL readers in accordance with the Hostivař Reading Room Regulations only at the Hostivař Reading Room and under the following conditions:
- Library items from the National Archival Collection are made available only if the particular document is not available in any other library in the Czech Republic, or if it is not possible to borrow it through the Interlibrary Loan Service, or if it is not available in digital form or on another carrier.
- Library item from the personal libraries (shelf marks 60, 63, 66, 67, 68, 71, 72) is made available only if it is the single copy of the particular document kept in the NL collections. In unique cases, the Collection´s manager can grant an exception.
- In case a reader is interested in studying a personal library as a whole or its significant part, he/ she may be asked to prove relevant scientific interest (e. g. a confirmation from University or other scientific institution, or the proof of his/ her publishing activity).
- Some parts of the Hostivař Archival Collections are made available under the special protection regime. The Collections´s manager decides on the conditions, under which the particular item can be made available and the reader is informed about it by staff at the Hostivař Reading Room. The reader studying library items under special protection regime is obliged to comply with the Hostivař Reading Room Regulations.
Documents subject to the special protection regime include i. a. precious copies of otherwise common titles or precious parts of holdings kept as wholes. Subject to special preservation regime are also publications that have their social circulation regulated by the provisions of Section 191, paragraph 1 (dissemination of pornography) or Section 192, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code (a specific part of pornographic literature), or those subject, to a particularly great degree, to the competence of the provisions of Sections 403-405, of the Criminal Code, publications, where the Copyright has been infringed, and publications, where the whole edition was withdrawn based on the decision of the court or the publisher.
Except for the case of the provisions of Section 191, paragraph 1 or Section 192, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code, this is in no way a restriction of access to information.
Making Modern Archival Collections Available to Users
The NL registered user (researcher), interested in studying any item included in the Modern Archival Collections shall submit a duly completed request form at the Consultancy and Information Desk in the Main Hall of the National Library of the CR, in the Klementinum. Authorized members of staff will check whether the request is rightful, i.e. whether or not the requested title is available in other NL Collections, in case of the National Archival Collection also in other libraries in the Czech Republic, or whether it is available in digital form. The document on loan to another user is not considered to be inaccessible.
In case the request is rightful, the library item is delivered to and issued as a check-in loan in accordance with the Research Regulations in the Hostivař Reading Room. The delivery to other reading rooms is not possible.
The request for loan will be executed within three business days after placing the request, The items are booked in the Hostivař Reading Room for one month from placing the request or the user´s last visit. If the user does not come to study within this period, the reservation is cancelled. The number of library items issued for check-in loan and reservation is limited to five units. In case of periodals, the librarian decides whether the number of items may be increased.
Exception: In the event of a request placed by a disabled user, for whom a trip to the Hostivař Reading Room would be a disproportionate difficulty, the unit from the Modern Archival Collections may be delivered to the Scholars Reading Room, where it will be made available in accordance with the Research Regulations.
Prague, 27 March 2024
Mgr. Lenka Maixnerová
Deputy Director, Library Collections and Services
