Municipal Library of Prague

www.mlp.cz

PRALIT – the preservation and release of Prague Jewish literature project. The Prague Municipal Library houses a large collection of documents of Jewish and non-Jewish origin belonging to an assemblage of works known as Prague Jewish literature. This involves a broader range of works with numerous unique documents from specialised sections of the Prague Municipal Library – from the Department of Rare Prints and the Music Department, which is regarded as the oldest and largest public music library in the country. It is made up in particular of Bohemian periodicals, important documents of a music nature, and books by authors from the collection of Prague Jewish literature. These documents contain remarkable and irreplaceable information from the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. They illustrate in detail the multinational cultural life in Central Europe in that period. Poor environmental conditions threaten the very existence of the documents due to the degradation of the original mass-produced (acidic) paper. The physical condition of the documents has been negatively impacted by frequent use by library readers and researchers in this field. Their digitalisation will not only protect the information the documents contain and preserve the original appearance of the documents for future generations; digitalisation will also make it possible to take advantage of additional benefits tied to the accessibility of the documents via a web interface. Objectives of the project will be accomplished by the fulfilment of the following project activities: 1. increasing the capacity of the digitalisation worksite by means of equipment and staff; 2. the gradual digitalisation of selected documents; 3. the release of documents in digital form (digital library, online map); 4. the large-scale promotion of the project, including a media campaign.

approximately 258 642 EUR