Protection of Library Collections and Readers During the Pandemic Period


Petra Vávrová, Jitka Neoralová, Richard Frank Mally




During the pandemic, the activities of the Collection Preservation Division (CPD, hereinafter also the Collection Preservation Division) of the National Library of the Czech Republic (NL CR) and its three departments focused on minimizing the risk of employees, readers, researchers getting infected with COVID-19. The standard task of the Collection Preservation Division staff is to take care of the good physical condition of library collections and to provide methodological assistance in this area for the entire extensive libraries network throughout the Czech Republic. The aim is to prevent damage to library collections and to provide conditions needed for their permanent preservation for future generations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the search for facility disinfection options, the provision of hand sanitizers for employees and the establishment of preventive measures against the spread of the disease inside and between buildings became a priority. An important part of the work of the Collection Preservation Division was specific consulting and planning of individual steps to support the decision-making of the crisis staff of the National Library of the Czech Republic. Introduction