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Did you know? - Libraries

(This article expired 01.04.2021.)

Did you know that the Czech Republic has the densest network of public libraries in the world?

There are approximately 5,410 public libraries in the Czech Republic – or one library for every 1,900 inhabitants, four times more than the European average and 10 times more than in the USA.

Every year, more than 20 million readers visit Czech public libraries. Every inhabitant of the Czech Republic (15 yrs+) reads 13 books a year, devotes 30 minutes a day to reading, buys 2.5 books a year and has a home library of 250 books.

knihovny

knihovny

The offer of printed, electronic and audio books in the Czech Republic is huge: around 15,000 titles are published annually and approximately one million e-books are sold.

Czech public libraries also use new technologies and provide free internet access. Some have even been transformed into pleasant places to spend leisure time, organizing public discussions and other additional programs.

Historical fact: Last year marked 100 years since the approval of the First Library Act by the Government of the Czechoslovak Republic, which introduced the "obligation to establish a library in each municipality" and defined that the purpose of the public library is "to extend and deepen education of the population by both educational and amusing reading which has genuine inward value". The law was in force until 2001.