Librarianship Institute

Prepares conceptual, methodological, normative, and legislative materials for the organisation and development of the Czech library system. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (MoC), it coordinates programmes and initiatives to support public librarianship and information services (Veřejné informační služby knihoven – VISK). Provides advisory, consultancy, and expert services to libraries, information centres, and their founders, as well as public library and information services to users. Ensures both extracurricular education of library staff and internal education of NLCR staff. Represents libraries in negotiations with collective copyright administrators regarding paying royalties for using copyrighted works. Dedicated to international cooperation, research, and development.

1. Study and Information Department

   Creates and makes available subject-specific information resources for librarians, information workers, students, and teachers in library and information science. Ensures the operation of the Library of Librarianship Literature.
   It builds and makes accessible the Library of Librarianship Literature (LLL) collection, the central information, documentation, and reference centre of the Czech Republic in library and information science. Czech professional literature is acquired in its entirety, including coverage of new trends; the foreign section includes basic, comprehensive, and terminological titles. The library also contains the most important international databases in the field. The department creates and administers its own databases: Terminology Database of Library and Information Science, Database of Abbreviations for Library and Information Science, and Database of Librarianship Literature.

2. Department for Education
   Provides lifelong education for library staff through a wide range of activities and courses.
   The Librarianship Institute organises educational events, both specialised events for the staff of the NLCR and for the general library community. Training opportunities for the professional public include accredited retraining courses based on the National Qualification System and innovative courses supported by MoC programmes. Employees of the NLCR can take advantage of language courses, onboarding tours, computer literacy courses, GDPR training, OSH training, and courses on current topics. Depending on their expertise, employees participate in educational courses, training courses, seminars, workshops, and conferences organised by external entities, for which they can benefit from the financial support of the NLCR.

3. Analysis and Coordination of Public Library and Information Services (PLIS)
   Provides methodological and consultancy services for the Public Librarianship and Information Services (Veřejné informační služby knihoven – VISK) and prepares materials for the development of the Czech Republic's library system.
   In addition to consultancy and methodological activities in public librarianship and information services (VISK) for libraries and their founders, it prepares concepts, methodologies, standards and legislative materials for the organisation and development of the library system in the Czech Republic. It coordinates the national and regional implementation of the VISK standards, which it then evaluates. It analyses statistical data of public libraries and manages the Benchmarking Libraries database in cooperation with the National Information and Advisory Centre for Culture (NIPOS). It regularly organises national surveys of the Czech Republic's readership.