Libri Prohibiti
| Established | October 22, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Location | Senovážné námĕstí 2, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic |
| Coordinates | 50°5′9.21″N 14°25′47.61″E / 50.0858917°N 14.4298917°ECoordinates: 50°5′9.21″N 14°25′47.61″E / 50.0858917°N 14.4298917°E |
| Collection | |
| Size | 29,200 library units, 2,560 periodicals |
| Other information | |
| Director | Jiří Gruntorád |
| Website | http://libpro.cts.cuni.cz/EN/index_en.html |
Libri Prohibiti is a nonprofit, private, independent, archival research library located in Prague, Czech Republic that collects samizdat and exile literature. The organization is maintained and run by Jiří Gruntorád and includes more than 29,200 monographs and periodicals, about 2,900 reference resources, and over 5,000 audiovisual materials.
Location: Libri Prohibiti is located on the third floor of Senovazne namesti 2, Prague 1, Czech Republic
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. (except holidays and school vacations)
The Libri Prohibiti is free to all visitors. The library houses a reading room that can accommodate eighteen people and averages approximately ten visitors per day. Reference services are provided in person, via email, and over the telephone. The collections are non-circulating due to the uniqueness and frailty of the items.
The staff consists of the director - Jiří Gruntorád, a part-time Video and Audio Archivist, a part-time Magazine Archivist, and several unpaid volunteers and library and information science students from the nearby Charles University and the Josef Škvorecký private college.
As of the 2009 Annual Report, the Libri Prohibiti’s main goals are to “accumulate the most complete and highest quality collection of…materials which were created by the Czech and Slovak exile” and “completely catalog these collections by computer and to make the results accessible for the purpose of further research, both in [its] computer network and in the form of book and periodical publications”.
A majority of the library’s 2009 income is acquired through government grants and individual sponsors. To aid in funding, the Libri Prohibiti constantly seeks grants from the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Since government funding is limited, the library depends on the generosity of individual donors for much of its income.
When Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule in the mid- to late-twentieth century, over 400 writers and journalists were prohibited from publishing and distributing any of their works. Some writers, such as Václav Havel, were persecuted and sentenced to prison if they did not comply with these regulations. During this time many different types of performers, entertainers, and various other creators were persecuted for and banned from performing or creating their specific art forms. It was almost impossible for these persecuted individuals to find any kind of employment after this.
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