Jan Drda Library

The beginnings of the history of the Příbram library date back to 1883, when, according to the minutes of a meeting of the Municipal Meeting, its literary department set the goal of building a public library and reading room in the town of Příbram. This was not achieved until Monday, October 1, 1900, when the People's Library, then located in the school building on Komenský Square, was inaugurated. The opening hours for the public were every Tuesday and Friday. In its first year of operation, the library had 255 registered readers, who could choose from 790 books.

Two years later, the library was moved to the ground floor of the town poorhouse (the building below the present-day state prosecutor's office). After World War I, the library moved again, this time to the town orphanage in Jirásek Gardens. Here it remained until 1945, when it was moved to new premises in the town hall (formerly the Česká spořitelna) and in the early 1950s it was moved to a house on the edge of the square (today the flower shop U Voláků) at the mouth of Pražská Street, where it was housed until 1984.

During World War II, the librarian J. Bláha was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo because of his wife's Jewish origin. After his release, he could no longer perform his duties as librarian and Alois Cvrk was appointed as his successor, who saved many Czech books listed on the index of banned books from being shredded. During the war the library was the centre of cultural and social life of the Czech population.

In the period after World War II, the library's activities became increasingly rich. The library took part in events organised by the local educational society, its library collection grew and so did the number of readers and borrowers. In 1948, the library had 1,761 readers and 44,487 loans. In the same year, the library gained the status of a district library and in 1953, after the merger of Příbram and Březové Hory, it acquired its first branch, the former Jirásek Library in Březové Hory. At the beginning of the 1950s, when the uranium industry began to develop in Příbram, a housing estate was built there and with it a new cultural house, where another branch of the library was opened in 1959 with a section for adults and children. After the adoption of the Law on the Unified Library System and the reorganisation of the Příbram district in 1960, the library began to build a centre system.

In 1984, the library was moved again. The library, which already had almost 150,000 volumes of books, moved from the premises that were no longer suitable to the building of the former Communist Party of Czechoslovakia on Pionýrů Square (today T. G. Masaryk Square). This gave the library much more suitable premises, which also enabled the opening of a small reading room and a study room. This building - now completely outdated - still houses the library today.

In 1986 the library opened another branch. The adult section was moved from the community centre to the "Křižák" in the new part of the town and replaced by a teenage section.

On the occasion of its 90th anniversary in 1990, the library was renamed the Jan Drda Library. In 1993, much changed for the library. After the district assembly decided not to grant the library a subsidy for its operation, an agreement was reached between the town authority, the district authority and the library directorate that after the transfer of the building and movable property to the town, the town of Příbram would continue to be the library's founder. The library thus began to function as a municipal facility.

In 1993 - after receiving a grant from the Ministry of Economy - the library opened another department - the Information Centre. At the end of 1994, the library is one of the first in the country to start an automated borrowing protocol.

In 1995 the library, in cooperation with the town of Příbram and graphic artist Jan Čaka, issued a bronze medal on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth and 25th anniversary of the death of the Příbram native, writer Jan Drda.

In 1996, an automated borrowing protocol was also installed in the children's department and in the study room. In the same year, the library started publishing a monthly cultural magazine "Příbramský zpravodaj" and an occasional magazine "Smoke" for the newly founded Young Authors' Club. In addition to these two periodicals, the library decided to publish works by regional authors, small-circulation publications and later also pictorial publications.

During 1996-1997, the basement of the building on TGM Square was reconstructed and the coke heating was replaced by gas. In the vacant renovated premises a centre for printing services and facilities for temporary workers who performed civil service in the library were created.

In 1998, part of the building was extensively renovated, the attic was converted into a lecture hall, and the roof and façade of the library were repaired. Since this year, thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, library readers can use the Internet.

In August 2000, the library branch in Březové Hory moved from the cramped premises on Březohorské náměstí to the former pharmacy of the local polyclinic. The equipment of the branch and the range of its services were expanded thanks to the project Fighting Boredom, subsidised by a grant from the Open Society Fund in Budapest. Since 2001, the branch has become a day club for children and young people with a regular programme.

October 2000 marked the 100th anniversary of the library. A festive meeting of current and former library staff and important cultural and political figures of the town and the region took place in the theatre in Pribram. The family of the writer Jan Drda also came to the meeting. Amateur theatre actors from Petrovice performed Richard Havelka's farce "Jawohl" for the occasion.

In 2001, an automated borrowing protocol was also put into operation at the Příbram VIII "Křižák" branch and at the "Škola" branch for children, located in the 7th Primary School in Příbram.

Since 2002, the Jan Drda Library, in connection with the approval of the new Library Act, is again the centre of regional services for the libraries of the district. It provides more than 150 libraries with mainly advisory, methodological, educational and coordination services, builds up the exchange collection and ensures its distribution and circulation.

In 2003, the library established close cooperation with the State District Archive and digitised the old Příbram magazines Horymír, Naše obrana, Od stříbrných hor, Vesnické noviny, Vltavské proudy and Nové Příbramsko. The CDs are stored in the library study room.

In the same year the library won the competition for the best library presentation on the Internet Biblioweb 2003. Its website was declared the best.

A new Internet workstation for the public with four computer stations was opened at the Information Centre in March 2003 in cooperation with Internet PB.

In March 2005, as part of the March - Internet Month event, the library launched a new borrowing service - electronic borrowing. In practice, this meant that the library would send a document converted into electronic form to interested persons in any library in the Czech Republic upon request.

In 2007, the automation of the borrowing system was successfully completed throughout the library and all its branches. The last branch - Březové Hory - was connected to the central library database. This year the library's publishing house also received the prestigious Magnesia Litera award for the publication of Stanislav Dvorský's poetry book Oblast ticha.

Since 2008, the children's department in the School branch has had its own website, Knihovna u Knihožrouty, and visitors to the study room can use the wireless internet connection - WIFI. Since 2009, readers can visit all departments of the KJD Příbram with a single reader's ID.

In May 2010, a branch of the Library Information Centre was opened at the new bus station.

In the autumn of 2011, as part of Library Week, e-book readers were launched in the central lending library for adults.

In 2011, the library received a grant and the Křižák branch premises were extended to include a study room where an internet workstation is available for the public. Special software for the visually impaired was installed on one of the computers. Since 2012, the workers of this branch have been preparing a regular programme for the clients of the SONS (United Organisation of the Blind and Partially Sighted of the Czech Republic) in Příbram. Since this year, audiobooks have also been lent here.

In 2013, as part of the improvement of services to readers, the library introduced the so-called family card. In 2014, in cooperation with the eReading.cz portal, the library introduced e-book lending for its readers and also published its first freely downloadable e-book, The Silent Barricade by Jan Drda.

Throughout its existence, the library has organised other interesting events for its readers and supporters. For several years, the library prepared the Book Ball together with the local bookstore Hyšpler - Olšanská in the Příbram Sokol Hall. To this day, in the month of October, it organizes a series of interesting programs and concerts called the Month for the Soul. It organizes and prepares interesting discussions with writers and famous personalities. Over the period of time the library has been visited by: Jarmila Glazarová, Eva Bernardinová, Valja Stýblová, Ludmila Vaňková, Jan Alda, Václav Kaplický, Miroslav Ivanov, Ladislav Stehlík, František Kožík, Stanislav Rudolf, Ota Dub, Viktor Palivec, Rudolf Kalčík, Vojtěch Steklač, Jiří Švejda, Petr Prouza, Jiří Medek, Petr Šabach, Jaroslav Foglar, Ota Hofman, Vladimír Liška, Marek Stašek, Jan Čáka, Ivan Wernisch, Josef Hiršal, Vlastimil Vondruška, Milan Gelnar, Jan Němec, Otomar Dvořák, Vítězslava Klimtová, Věra Kubová, Kateřina Tučková, Radka Denemarková and others. From 1999 to 2009, the library organized a recessional event in historical costumes "The Conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusader Army". The library also participated with the František Drtikol Gallery, ZUŠ Příbram I and the Antonín Dvořák Theatre in several editions of the opening festival of the Krasohledění cultural season.

In 2015, the library celebrated the 115th anniversary of its foundation and the 100th anniversary of the birth and 45th anniversary of the death of the Příbram writer Jan Drda.

In 2018, the library underwent a major reconstruction. The Central Lending Library for adults was completely rebuilt and expanded. The small room, combining several storerooms and offices, suddenly became a spacious and light-filled room where readers can read in comfortable sofas. Restrooms for library patrons on the 1st and 2nd floors were renovated, but most importantly, an elevator was built into the building, making the library accessible to many more readers and event attendees.

The opening ceremony took place in September 2018 in the presence of the Mayor and the "new" library was well received by the public.
The library will celebrate its 120th anniversary in 2020.

The library organises many interesting events, be it talks, lectures, guided walks, book launches and various games and fun programmes for children.

Text: https://www.kjd.pb.cz/historie-kjd/