One hundred years of the Slavonic Library

A significant anniversary of Czech librarianship

In November 2024, the Slavonic Library (Prague), a publicly accessible research library focused on Slavic Studies, will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Since 1958 it has been an integral part of the National Library of the Czech Republic. The Slavonic Library is one of the centers of Slavic Studies librarianship in the world, its collection contains more than 900,000 volumes, mainly of philological and historical scope. The collection of periodicals published in 1918–1945 by members of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian emigration around the world, which the library manages, has been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

The library's centenary is marked by a series of activities spread throughout 2024.

Jubilee programme:

Exhibition

• 100 Years of the Slavonic Library. Prague, Clementinum, ground floor (gate A), 5. September – 31. October 2024
• Exhibit of the Month – May 2024. Apostle printed by Ivan Fyodorov (Lviv, 1574). Prague, Clementinum, ante-room to the General reading Room (gate A), 15 May – 11 June 2024. More >>

Conference

• International symposium “Slavic Studies Librarianship and its Influence on Contemporary Public Education”. Prague, Clementinum, 5 September 2024. More >>

Publications

• Library calendar for 2024 with the theme “100 years of the Slavonic Library” – published in autumn 2023. More >>
• Lukáš Babka: Slovanská knihovna 1924–2024: (průvodce po dějinách, fondech a službách) = The Slavonic Library, Prague 1924–2024: (a guide to its history, funds and services) (Prague, 2023). More >>
  
• Tereza Rejdová (sest.): Slovanská knihovna v tisku a dalších médiích. Bibliografie za léta 1979–2023 [The Slavonic Library in the Press and Other Media] (Prague, 2024). More >>
• Jan Hanousek (sest.): Sbírka dokumentů k dějinám Slovanské knihovny. Inventář [The collection of documents on the history of the Slavonic Library] (Prague, 2024). In print.
• Lukáš Babka: Sto let pražské Slovanské knihovny. In: Knihovna – knihovnická revue 35 (2024), no. 1, p. 37–46. Online available here >>
• Lukáš Babka: Sto let pražské Slovanské knihovny. In: Čtenář (Měsíčník pro knihovny) 76 (2024), no. 1, p. 14–16. Online available here >>

Participation at conferences, lectures

• Forum of experts. Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, 8 April 2024
• From the treasures of Clementinum. Prague, 14 May 2024
• Book World Prague 2024, International book fair and literary festival. Prague, 23. May 2024
• COSEELIS (Council for Slavonic and East European Library and Information Services) Annual Conference. Oxford, Great Britain, 27–28 June 2024
• 48th National Seminar of Museums and Galleries Librarians AMG. Brno, 17–19 September 2024
• ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies) Annual Convention. Boston, MA, USA, 21–24 November 2024

More

• Concert for “Slovanka”. Anniversary concert for the staff, friends and supporters of the Slavonic Library. Prague, Clementinum, 11 April 2024
• “Works of the Slavonic Library” virtual collection. A set of digital copies of 239 books published by the Slavonic Library. Available here >>