Prague Library: A Story in Photos

Once upon a time…

Dave and I moved to Prague and yesterday, our word nerd dreams came true: We completed our applications, handed over 60 koruna (a whopping $2.70), and had our transit cards specially magnetized to double as our library cards.

We’re official card-carrying Czech library members.

The Central Library has a pretty decent collection of English-language fiction—and we’re really excited to use the children’s section so we can practice reading in Czech. But the best is really just going there to hang out among the books, to read or work at the cozy tables or comfy couches.

The lobby entrance features a book sculpture called Idiom. Created by Slovak artist Matej Krén, it combines interlaced books and mirrors to create what appears to be an infinite tunnel of books.

This is the view in the lobby…

Looking up…

Looking down…

And the outside view where the books almost look like a woven basket… (A basket to carry lots of knowledge, amirite?!)

The other thing that was a delightful surprise? A piano! Library card holders can borrow music, plug headphones into the electric piano, and while away the afternoon on the piano. I think it looks a little Wes Anderson-ish, right?

I was also very happy to see that the Prague library system includes 10 copies of Well Fed in Czech, aka, Dobře živeni.

(I also found Well Fed on a bookstore shelf alongside books from Melissa Hartwig, Mark Sisson, and Irena Macri. It’s still a thrill to find our books in the wild.)

Now that we’re official library-card-holders, our next bookish adventure will be to visit other branches around the city. There’s one right in our neighborhood (!) and another—that’s a longish tram ride away—with a special documents archive. (This is where I start pretending I’m a secret agent/librarian who must poke around a dusty library for Important Clues.)

The end.