Prague is donating 1.5 million crowns for the digitization of library collections in Ukraine

Prague councilors approved the provision of a donation of 1,500,000 crowns to the National Library of the Czech Republic to cover the costs associated with the construction of a mobile workplace for the digitization of library collections, which is publicly known as Arka 2. The mobile digitization unit will help with the digitization of printed or manuscript collections of memory institutions in Ukraine . Jiří Pospíšil, Deputy Mayor of Prague for Culture (TOP 09), informed about this.

“The Ark 2 project helps to mitigate the devastating effects of the war on Ukrainian cultural heritage. As part of it, a central archive will be created, which will enable Ukrainian residents to preserve their written documents, books and other archives. This will ensure that the cultural heritage will be preserved for future generations and, if necessary, it will be possible to reconstruct it,” said Pospíšil.

According to him, the war conflict in Ukraine, which has been going on for two years, is causing great loss of human life, systematic damage to the infrastructure of this country, and unfathomable economic effects. At the same time, however, historical monuments are being destroyed and rare artifacts are being stolen.

According to Pospíšil, the purpose of building the necessary mobile digitization unit of library funds located in a mobile transport container is to provide a portable and efficient solution for the digitization of various library documents at different locations according to current needs.

The mobile digitization unit will be equipped with all the technology necessary to enable the complete digitization of the printed or manuscript collection of memory institutions.

This is the digitization of 2D objects using specialized scanners designed for digitizing books, newspapers, magazines and other types of documents on loose or bound sheets of paper up to A3 size.

Coordination of its specific use will be the responsibility of the sponsoring partner Ukrainian organization, probably in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. “At a time when the mobile workplaces will not have adequate use, they will remain in the possession of the National Library of the Czech Republic, which will be able to use them, for example, for other purposes of an educational nature,” said municipality spokesman Vít Hofman.