This document provides an introduction and overview of the "Books Discovered Once Again" project from the National Library of the Czech Republic. The project will catalog and digitize over 12,000 confiscated books in the library's reserve collection to research their origins and legal status. Key activities include accessing the documents, researching their historical context, assessing their legal status, and presenting results through a website, publications, and exhibitions. The project runs from January 2015 to April 2016 with a budget of over 13 million CZK shared between the National Library and collaborating Stiftelsen Arkivet organization.

1. First Project Workshop
Books Discovered Once Again
Introduction of the project
First Project Workshop
Books Discovered Once Again
Introduction of the project
Tomas Foltyn, National Library of the Czech Republic
Prague, 9. 2. 2015
Tomas Foltyn, National Library of the Czech Republic
Prague, 9. 2. 2015

2. Ground information:
 Knihy znovu nalezené x Books Discovered Once
Again
 Programme: Cultural Heritage and Contemporary
Art
 Programme Area 16 „Conservation and
Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage“
 Schedule: 01/01/2015 – 30/4/2016
 Responsible Person: Mgr. Tomas Foltyn
Introduction of the project

3. Ground information:
 Budget Allocation: 13 184 823,- CZK / 475 000
EUR
 80% project funding
 20% support of the Ministry of Culture
 National Library of the Czech Republic
 6 775 626 CZK / 244 000 EUR
 Stiftelsen Arkivet
 6 409 197 CZK / 231 000 EUR
Introduction of the project

4. Motivation for project proposing:
 national research project Virtual Deposit Library
 external repository in Neratovice
 unknown period in the history of NL CR and Czech
Republic
 none systematic research in the project area so far
 act of interdisciplinarity = archival research
 lack of time and staff power to fix it in in-house
mode
Introduction of the project

5. Everyday life in the library connection:
 cataloging of the documents, which are not
available
 library items units creation
 documentation
 mapping and the ownership detection
 evidence – based on valid standardization
 safety and pernament deposition
Introduction of the project

6. Everyday life in the library connection:
 physical condition revision
 digitization
 presentation x usability
 library employees
 proffesionals
 general public
Introduction of the project

7. Project description:
 National Library role in the past:
 central institution for book acquisition and
depositing from various sources
 closed monasteries
 closed institutions
 arrested persons
 WWII confiscated documents
 many problems:
 no evidence, not known structure, content and
legal aspect
 to find information about them is crucial
Introduction of the project

8. Project description:
 historical context
 proof of evidence of original owners
 illustration of the war affairs and the way of
culture heritage employment (not only the war
but also after war events)
 illustration of the government systems and the
way of its thinking
 all the made research activities only partial
relevance
 none complex interdiscplinary activity
Introduction of the project

9. Project description:
 many various documents which can be covered in
frame of the project all around the Czech republic
 Free Masonic collection
 „Nazi books“ = books stolen from former owners
by Nazis and brought to Czechoslovakia
 1 500 000 volumes… / 12 000 volumes
 documents stored in so-called Reserve Collections
 no Hebraica
Introduction of the project

10. External Relations:
 Ministry of Culture Library Policy 2011-2015
 Permanent preservation of the printed collections
policy
 identification
 cataloging
 registration
 standardization
 preservation
 mapping of previously compacted units that are
scattered in various library collections now
Introduction of the project

11. Project Aims:
 4 key activities / goals
 Acces to the confiscated and brought library
documents
 Mapping of the history and context of
confiscated and reallocated books in the Czech
Republic
 Assessing of their legal status
 Project results presentation
Introduction of the project

12. I) Access to the documents:
 NL CR responsibility
 description of work:
 proces at least 12 000 volumes of
confiscated/brought books in compliance with
valid standardization and internal rules (rough
estimation – provenance signs)
 books identification
 transport and cleaning
 cataloging and units processing
 provenance signs documentation (digitization
and record to the library catalogue)
 digitization and physical preservation
Introduction of the project

13. II) Archival, historical and context research:
 NL CR responsibility
 description of work:
 survey in archives and literature
 important archival documents scanning (to
involved it to the web portal)
 put provenance signs into the broader context
 find the information about the book transfers
 get the historical and geographic context
 share the information with Norwegian
proffesionals
 create the proffesional monograph, website and
exhibition about the topis
Introduction of the project

14. III) Legal Aspects Validation:
 NL CR responsibility
 description of work:
 legal status of confiscated books evaluation
 mapping of the former owners
 legalization of the documents by NL CR
 cooperation with the external legal company
Introduction of the project

15. IV) Presentation of the project results and PR:
 Stiftelsen Arkivet / NL CR responsibility
 description of work:
 proffesional monograph, study compilation or
longer research paper about the topic
 physical and virtual exhibition creation
 organization of two seminars or workshop for
the interested audience
 meetings with university or high school students
with the topic
 project web page creation
Introduction of the project

16. General Project Schedule:
Introduction of the project
Activity From To
I)Cataloging 15/1/2015 30/4/2016
II) Mapping the context 15/1/2015 30/4/2016
III)Legal aspects evaluation 1/6/2015 31/12/2015
IV)Presentation 1/9/2015 30/4/2016

17. Mandatory results/outputs of the project:
 results / outputs
 Results:
1) Create at least 12 000 records of confiscated
books (availability in library catalogue)
2) Legal experts report (published via web)
3) Web portal creation (availability via internet)
4) Archival and historical research (information on
via web, research results publishing)
Introduction of the project

18. Mandatory results of the project:
 Outputs – „We have to…“:
1) To organize 2 large proffesional seminars and 4
internal project meetings
2) To create the project web portal
3) To proces at least 12 000 records from Reserve
collection with the direct relationship with
confiscated of brought books
Introduction of the project

19. Mandatory results of the project:
 Outputs – „We have to…“:
4) To manage the creation of the legal expert
report
5) To create the physical and virtual exhibition
6) To realize the consistent archival and historical
research and to create the monograph, exhibition
catalogue or longer paper about the project results
Introduction of the project

20. Project Staff:
 National Library of Czech Republic
 8,5 staff
 5 cataloging and units creation
 1 project management
 1 archival research
 1 books cleaning
 0,5 web creation
 11 internal employees
 researchers
 IT staff
 accounting and economical staff
 HR
 budget for external employees
Introduction of the project

21. Project Staff:
 Stiftelsen Arkivet
 1,5 staff
 1 project management
 0,5 web creation
 budget allocation for auditor
Introduction of the project

22. What is done…:
 project was submitted in April 2014 and approved
in November 2015
 negotiations with Ministry of Culture and Ministry of
Finance
 Partnership Agreement signed
 some minor changes in the budget allocation made
– necessary for final approval by Ministry of Culture
 Decission about cost confirmation – Dezember 2014
 till now (Friday) we were waiting for the final
approval of the Deputy Director and for the legal
frame confirmation
 waiting for the budget allocation…
Introduction of the project

23. That´s all for the beginning…
Thank you very much for your attention!
Introduction of the project
Now is the time for coffee break:o)