Jiřina Šiklová|Photo: Profimedia
Just a few metres from Jirásek Square, almost directly opposite the Mánes Gallery, a hidden gem of Prague’s literary world occupies the first floor of one of the city’s grand riverside buildings overlooking the Vltava. Within rooms where every step across the creaking wooden parquet floors breathes history, more than 9,000 books devoted primarily to feminism and gender studies line the shelves beneath soaring vaulted ceilings. At the heart of this collection, 30 years ago, was the personal library of Czech sociologist, writer and dissident Jiřina Šiklová. Today, the library bearing her name has grown into one of the largest specialised collections of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. According to head librarian Lu Přibyl, the library has expanded over the past three decades to its current size largely thanks to donations from Šiklová’s friends and from like-minded feminist organisations in Czechia and abroad.
Lu Přibyl|Photo: Gender Studies
“We have professional books, feminist theories, gender studies, etc., as well as fiction, poetry, and comic books. I would say the most famous author in general that can be found here is, for example, Gloria Steinem, but all of us here have our own favourites. For me, it’s the comic books, for example Gender Queer. I’d say there’s something for everyone, including children and youth.”
Although the library cannot compete in size with the Municipal Library or the National Library, its highly specialised focus means it houses books that cannot be found anywhere else.
“We are part of the library network of interlibrary loans, and often we have the one book in the whole Czech Republic that we can offer to readers. So that’s a nice position to have.”
In addition to books and journals on feminism, gender and queer studies, the library also houses the archives of Eliška Krásnohorská and the Czech women’s movement.
“Eliška Krásnohorská was one of the most famous women from the beginnings of the Czech women’s movement, and we are lucky to have part of her estate here in the library. It’s the main part of our Eliška Krásnohorská archive, but it’s not the only part. We also have the estates of many other feminists from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. And we also have some documents from Minerva, which was the first high school open to women in the Czech lands.”
The archive is open to the public and can be accessed without being registered as a library member.
“The archive contains personal documents like letters, postcards, personal photos, albums, but also official documents, for example from Minerva and from many other women’s organizations. And it’s kind of a collection of various uses, mostly for researchers. We are still in the state that although we do have the collection digitized to protect the documents, people have to come here to access them.”
Minerva|Photo: Archiv Elišky Krásnohorské, Gender Studies, o.p.s.
The library is not just a place for books but also an active cultural centre. Although it operates on a limited schedule during the summer, every Wednesday visitors can enjoy a reading room featuring a themed selection of books. Throughout the year, readers can also take part in a variety of community events.
“We try to do a couple of community events a year. Also, for example, we have a traditional event called Tuesdays with the Library, which, I think, dates back to 2005. It’s a very open format where our guests discuss with a moderator, and it’s either about a specific book or a specific feminist topic, and it’s open to everyone. During the summer holidays, we have an open reading room. Every Wednesday, you can come and read anything you’d like. You can just sit in a cozy armchair and read for a couple of hours.”
In the context of the upcoming Prague Pride, readers at the Jiřina Šiklová Library will, for example, find a selection of queer-themed books waiting for them next Wednesday. Although the library truly has a lot to offer, with a wide range of books not only in Czech and Slovak but also in English and German, its operation relies largely on the community, volunteers and donations.
Jiřina Šiklová Library|Photo: Gender Studies
“Right now, we are in dire need of establishing the library more independently because of the project drought and the current socio-political situation, which is not very friendly towards gender and feminism. So we would like to stabilize the library, and that’s, for example, why we started the current crowdfunding campaign.”
Says Lu Přibyl, head librarian at the Jiřina Šiklová Library. Readers can find more information on how to support the library, as well as its book catalogue, on the website of the non-profit organisation Gender Studies, which is the organization behind this unique library.