National Library of the Czech Republic

National Library of the Czech Republic (NL CR) is located in the historical Klementinum area in the Old Town of Prague. It is one of the oldest public libraries in the Czech Republic. Its history began with the foundation of Charles University in 1348. The next important chapter in its life is closely connected with more than 200 years of Jesuit activity in the Klementinum (1556-1773). When Charles University went under the control of the Jesuits in 1622, its library holdings were moved to the Klementinum. After the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 the university became a state institution and its library was opened to the public in 1777 by Empress Maria Theresa as the Imperial-Royal Public and University Library. In 1781, it began to receive legal deposits as the first library in the Habsburg MonarchyThe name of the library has changed several times since then, and the present name dates from 1995.

Today the NL CR is the centre of the national system of public libraries. The library collections comprise more than 7,6 million items with nearly 90,000 new acquisitions every year. The collections encompass the period from the beginnings of letters up to the present. Their highly prized part consists of ca 21,500 manuscripts, more than 4,000 incunables and more than 200,000 early printed books.

The NL CR collections cover particularly the humanities. Of major importance is the National Archival Collection, built on the basis of legal deposits. The NL CR also offers its users a wide range of electronic sources, from the National Digital Library (for modern holdings) through the licensed databases to the Manuscriptorium (for manuscripts and early printed books).

An autonomous part of the National Library is the Slavonic Library, a public academic library with the collection of specialised, world Slavonic literature, mainly historical, philological and politological, as well as selected original literary production of Slavic nations.