They will also use the building as a community center

“In the history of the capital city of Prague, there are four buildings that have been built with the aim of having a library. This (Petřina branch) will be the fifth. Here we show what we imagine what a library should look like for the 21st century, ” said the director of the Prague City Library Tomáš Řehák. He added that most branches are now housed in buildings that were created for another purpose. For example, they were built as kindergartens and were gradually rebuilt into libraries, which, according to Řehák, entails some restrictions for libraries.

Among the services offered at the new branch in Petřiny will be, for example, the fact that people will be able to return books or borrow them through self-service facilities without the assistance of a librarian, even outside the opening hours of the branch. The branch will also function as a cultural and community center, which is now missing in Petřiny, according to Řehák.

The branch will be barrier-free

The new branch will replace the original library building on Mahuleniny Street. The library was located in the building of the former kindergarten. The new branch will be barrier-free and will have one underground and four above-ground floors. Among other things, the building will house a hall for about 60 people, where they will be able to hold film screenings, concerts or lectures. There will be space for so-called coworking or for meetings of civic interest groups. The terrace and garden will also be used for outdoor seating.

The new building is built according to the design of architects from the Monom studio, who also prepared a design of the branch’s interior equipment. The project documentation was prepared by the Siebert + Talaš office and the building is being built by a consortium of Subterra and Chládek & Tintěra.

The money comes from the city library budget

The construction work should be completed in the summer of 2023. In the coming months, the interior will be furnished. The library should open to visitors in the autumn of 2023. The construction and equipment of the library should cost a total of 226 million crowns from the budget of the Municipal Library in Prague, said its spokeswoman Lenka Hanzlíková.

The current branch in Petřiny was established in the 1950s together with the Petřiny housing estate. Despite the general reconstruction in the early 1990s, according to Hanzlíková, the technical condition of the building ceased to suit the same as the size and layout of the building. The plan to build the library was made earlier. In 2016, the architects prepared a project that received a zoning decision. The building permit was issued in mid-2021. The original Petřiny branch was closed to readers due to the planned construction of a new building in October 2021 and was subsequently demolished.