Panel Discussion: Future of NTK
The National Library of Technology (NTK) celebrated its fifth anniversary in Dejvice on Thursday, October 9, 2014, with an open discussion about the library's future. The event, moderated by Czech TV's Nora Fridrichová, included panelists from campus, the Ministry of Education, and the community, notably:
- Roman Brychta, co-architect for the building
- Zdeněk Hostomský, Director of the Czech Academy of Science's Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Stanislava Hronová, a member of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
- Petr Konvalinka, President of Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague
- Marie Kousalíková, Mayor of Prague 6
- Karel Melzoch, President of the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague
- Markéta Sedmíková, Vice-President of the Czech Agricultural University in Prague
- Martin Svoboda, Director of the National Technical Library
- Jaromír Veber, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
Highlights:
- CTU's President, Prof Konvalinka, shared his vision for a possible reunification of the academic institutions and schools which, prior to 1953, were formerly part of technical university. He additionally expressed his opinion that NTK might become the university library for a future Prague University of Technology.
- Deputy Minister of Education Veber stressed the importance of the library's national role, particularly in terms of saving money at the national level through consolidated purchasing of eResources.
- Leaders of NTK's academic partners - the Czech Academy of Science's Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Institute of Chemical Technology, and the University of Life Sciences Prague - commented on how the integration of their libraries with NTK has been beneficial and that they expect, going forward, even more development of services supporting their academic endeavors.
- Community leaders and the building's co-architect noted how the library is fulfilling the needs of the public - its openness is palpable.
- Open questions from the audience included commentary about the library's cleaning regime as well as heating and cooling system, among other items.
