Libraries witness changes in the Czech Republic

By Robert Herrick

你現在會去圖書館借閱圖書么？或者你所在的地方還有圖書館存在么？在這個電子圖書盛行、網絡發達的年代，到圖書館借書好像已經過時了，但仍有一個國家仍然頑強地堅持這種習慣，盡管它的圖書館也減少了一部分，而且剩下的圖書館有時也要作其他用途來維持運營。

In the age of Amazon and the Internet,the idea of going to a public library to borrow a book may seem oldfashioned in many parts of the world,but one country,at least,is hugging it stubbornly:the Czech Republic.

There are libraries everywhere you look in the country—it has the densest library network in the world.There are more libraries than grammar schools.In fact,there is one library for every 1,971 Czech citizens,four times as many,relative to population,as the average European country,and 10 times as many as the United States,which has one for every 19,583 people.

Why are there so many libraries in Czech.Well,for decades they were mandatory—every community,from a big city down to a tiny village,was required by law to have one.

The law was enacted in 1919,soon after Czechoslovakia came to light as an independent country.The idea was to promote universal literacy and education after the country was free of the German-speaking Austro-Hungarian Empire.And it worked.Czechs developed a strong reading habit.Even today,those who visit libraries buy more books than others:11 a year on average.

The library law survived the German occupation,the communist era and even the breakup with Slovakia in the early 1990s.What it couldn't survive,in the end,was budgetary pressure.To save money,the requirement was dropped in 2001,when there were about 6,019 libraries in the country;since then,about 11 percent have closed.

Rather than just linger on,though,the surviving Czech libraries are doing what they can to stay alive and relevant.They serve as voting places for elections and as local meeting places.They organize reading clubs and art exhibits and offer computer literacy courses,and they welcome droves of schoolchildren and retirees during the day.

But mostly,they do what 92 percent of Czechs still want them to go on doing,according to the Gates Foundation survey—they lend books.

在這個“亞馬遜”與網絡當道的時代，進公共圖書館借書在世界上許多地方似乎過時了。然而至少還有一個國家仍頑強地保持這項習慣，那就是捷克共和國。

放眼望去，捷克到處是圖書館：該國有全世界密度最高的圖書館網，其數量甚至多過文法學校。事實上，在捷克每1971人中就有一座圖書館，這是歐洲國家平均水平的4倍，美國的10倍（美國每19583人才擁有一座圖書館）。

為什么捷克有這么多圖書館？其實幾十年來，建造圖書館一直曾是強制規定——依照法律，捷克的每一個社區，從大城市到小村莊，都要有一座圖書館。

該法案是1919年頒布的，當時捷克斯洛伐克剛獨立不久，意欲在脫離說德語的奧匈帝國統治后，提高全民識字率、普及教育。這一做法的確卓有成效。捷克人養成了很強的閱讀習慣。即便在今天，逛圖書館的人買的書也比其他人更多，一年下來平均會買11本書。

這項圖書館法案挺過了 “二戰”德國占領期、共產主義時期，甚至當捷克在上世紀90年代初期與斯洛伐克分家時仍照行不誤。但是它最終挺不住的是預算壓力。該法案在2001年為節省開支而廢止了，當時捷克全國上下有6019座圖書館。此后，有大約11%的圖書館遭合并或關閉。

然而，現存的捷克圖書館并不甘于僅僅能夠留存，它們盡可能地保持活躍，加強與民眾生活的聯系。圖書館是選舉時的投票所，是當地居民的集會場地。館方也會組織閱讀俱樂部和藝術展覽、提供計算機教學課程，并且在日間接待成群造訪的學童與退休人士。

但大多數情況下，根據蓋茨基金會調查顯示：92%的捷克人仍然希望他們繼續服務下去——借書給大家看。