The Medical Library is the oldest university library in Hradec Králové. It was established in 1945, i.e. simultaneously with the establishment of the faculty itself, it was ceremonially opened on April 15, 1946. This was followed by the first graduation at the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové.
The library was opened as a branch institute of the National and University Library in Prague. Its temporary location was in the meeting room vacated by Municipal Savings Bank for the faculty. In 1950, the library moved to the building of the former Na Hradě seminary in the historical part of Old Hradec, where it is still located today.
The complex of buildings at Na Hradě, which today connects to the Municipal Music Hall and the so-called Burgrave's Office, is located in a place with a rich history. The local Přemyslid castle is documented in Kosma's chronicle as early as 1091. Of the famous people, Eliška Rejčka probably lived here in 1308-1318 and Eliška Pomořanská in 1378-1393. The episcopal seminary was opened in these premises in 1714. The history of the seminary itself ended on July 26, 1950, when the episcopal seminary in Hradec Králové was abolished on the basis of government regulations. In the same year, the Medical Library moved into these premises.
The beauty of the historic building stood out fully after a complete renovation in 2006-2007, when the ancient but uncomfortable and inadquate building became a sensitively renovated building in one year, which is admired by all visitors and users of the library. After the renovation, the building was officially opened on October 2, 2007.
The main operation of the library is located on the 2nd floor, where there are two lending departments, a free selection of books and magazines with individual study places, study rooms and a computer study room, alll equipped with necessary equipment and computers and part of the storages and archives equipped with compact shelves.
In addition to library on the 2nd floor, the building also houses the Institute of Languages of the Faculty of Medicine, and on the ground floor the Column Hall used for exhibitions and social events, an auditorium and the building's facilities (locker room, reception). The central atrium in the middle of the building gives the building a unique atmosphere that serves visitors to study and relax.
The basic mission of Medical Library is to provide current foreign and domestic information resources and access to them for the workplaces of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital. The library provides quality library and information services to all library users. In addition to printed sources, the priority is to ensure electronic access to the full texts of documents from the computer network of the Faculty of Medicine (or University Hospital) or remotely in accordance with the valid license conditions. Part of the library fund is a separately allocated study fund, which is primarily intended for students of the Faculty of Medicine HK. The offer of textbooks in English for our foreign students is gradually ensured by electronic textbooks titles.
The library offers lending services (absentee, full-time), research, information and consulting services, interlibrary and international interlibrary loan service, reprographic services, promotional activities, circulation service, provides acquisition and mediation of electronic information resources.
The library provides methodological assistance and cooperates with authorized workers at institutes and clinics in the management of depository libraries within the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital. The relevance of library with the operation and activities of the faculty is also reflected in the teaching of information literacy and methods of obtaining and using information resources in all study programs at the faculty.
A specific service, which is an essential part of the library's work, is the registration and reporting of the publishing activity of the staff of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital and the provision of documents for internal evaluation and remuneration of employees, or workplaces of the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital. Furthermore, the provision of documents for the internal evaluation and remuneration of employees, possibly the faculty and hospital workplaces for publishing activities according to the approved rules and for other purposes within Charles University, individual ministries or the Czech Republic.
Medical Library is part of the network of faculty libraries of Charles University, which together form the Central Library of Charles University. Users can thus take advantage of the unified library software, central catalog, unified registration and library rules throughout the Charles University. Many of the wide range of electronic information resources are obtained under a university-wide license.
Due to its position as a library providing library and information services for the University Hospital, Medical Library is also part of the network of medical libraries in the Czech Republic, headed by the National Medical Library in Prague.
The future of Medical Library is connected with the project of the Charles University campus in HK, where all teaching and service workplaces of both faculties of Charles University should relocate. This means that both existing faculty libraries (Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy) will get new premises in which they will offer their services in close cooperation.
Medical Library
Faculty of Medicine
Na Hradě street, 91
Hradec Králové 50003
