What awaits the Municipa Library in Prague in 2025? Our branches will be more accessible and we will focus on digital literacy.
Expanding opening hours, opening two new Kiosks and raising awareness of digital services among the general public are the main events and themes expected in 2025 at the Municipal Library in Prague.
The technology and the art of disengagement
Libraries have chosen increasing digital literacy and introducing the general public to the state's digital services as a major theme for 2025 for their education and outreach activities. As a result, the popular Digital Advice Centres, which offer people the opportunity to learn about mobile phone functions and new applications in a safe environment, have a permanent place in the informal education programme. The content is not only the digital services of the state offered by the Citizen Portal, but also the services of the Digital Library, the possibilities of the E-library, or the functions of the Library app.
Digital services will also be reflected in the direct services of the library, which will start accepting eDocuments and online identity verification using Bank ID at all branches. The topics of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) will also be developed. You can already meet Aia (read Aya), an artificially intelligent library assistant, at the Rajská zahrada branch , where she is on a trial stay. She will also be deployed in one of the Kiosks. Thematic programmes using virtual reality are a permanent offer of several branches.
On the other hand, the library will also feature topics related to the security aspects of the digital world, including the need for digital detox and moderation of presence in the digital world
To the library even on Sundays
Readers have been encountering self-service features in the library since 2019, when self-service lending was launched in the Central Library. Technology has allowed the library to expand not only the range of events for the public (the number of events has grown to the current 8,000 per year), but also the availability of services over time. The first self-service Kiosek was opened in Centrum Černý Most in March 2022. Two more Kiosks are planned to be opened in 2025, in the DBK shopping centre (Prague 4) and Westfield Chodov (Prague 11). The Kiosk does not provide full library services (residential, educational and cultural), but is a quick alternative for returning and borrowing books in a convenient location with wide opening hours.
The upcoming change in the opening hours of selected branches will also increase the availability of library services. The first wave will include the Central Library and the Dejvice branches, which will offer the possibility to use the library, for example, on Sundays. The extended opening hours will be without the presence of librarians and access to the library will be conditional (as well as to the Kiosk) on a valid library card. Interest is expected especially from students, also in view of the discussion about the lack of study places in Prague.
New and revitalized libraries
In Černý Most (Prague 14), the construction of the new multifunctional house Černý Most will be completed, which will also house the new branch of library with a size of around 1000 sq m. Work is underway with the architectural studio Loxia on the interior design, which should offer a comfortable selection of books and pleasant amenities for resident services. The opening of the library in 2026 will fill another white spot on the availability of library services on the map of Prague.
Attention will also be focused on revitalising (renovating) the interior of several existing branches. The important branch Smíchov, located in the building of the Art Nouveau Smíchov Market Hall from 1908, as well as two estate libraries located in civic amenity buildings, should get a new coat according to the design of the monom studio. The better use of the space of the branch Bohnice will be considered by Studio Virtua, and interior modifications in the branch Opatov, which should offer a more pleasant space for events, are being discussed with architect Karolina Kripnerová.
Work will begin on the new bibliobus. The mobile library is a traditional library service, which has been provided since 1939. The current fleet consists of two vehicles, a 2008 Crossway and a 2013 Oskar (Fiat Ducato). The project envisages the renewal of the older (and larger and heavier vehicle, which has long proved unsuitable for Prague traffic) with a multifunctional and smaller vehicle with a wide range of uses for regular stations and „promotional“ trips (festivals, events).
Written by Lenka Hanzlíková, spokesperson.