Botanical Library

Location

Benátská 2, the ground floor

Library Hours

8:30 to 16:30 (on weekdays with the exception of Fridays)

8:30 to 12:00 (on Fridays)

(the library is closed between 12:00 and 12:30)

For operating hours outside school terms, i.e. from July to September, check directly in the Library.

Contact us

Phone: +420 221 951 605

E-mail: knihbot@natur.cuni.cz

The Botanical Library (ABD044) is currently the second largest unit of the Library of Biological Sciences. Its collection contains approximately 100,000 items relating to various botanical and pharmacobotanical disciplines (taxonomy of fungi, lichens, algae, mosses and vascular plants, flora of the world, phytogeography, geobotanics and paleobotanics, ecology, plant morphology and anatomy, forestry, crop and pharmaceutical plants, history of botany). The library is located on the ground floor of Benátská 2 building, on the right side of the corridor leading from the main entrance to the building. Students and teaching staff of the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, can freely access the Main Area of the library where most of monographs and journals are housed (organized by subject); other visitors have to ask a member of library staff for the item(s) they want to borrow. The Study Room with 5 seats and computers with an internet access can also be used by all visitors of the library (the use of internet is allowed only for the access to journal articles, online databases and other information resources !)

Books and other monographs constitute the largest part of the Botanical Library collection with many items dated before 1860 year. These historical documents were obtained by extensive donations and purchases from various private collections at the end of the 19^th century. Among the most important scholars from that time who donated their books to the library were professors of botany Vincenz Franz Kosteletzky (1801-1818), Moritz Heinrich Willkomm (1821-1895), Josef Velenovský (1859-1949) and Felix Schiffner (1862-1944), a bookseller Friedrich Tempsky (1821-1902) and a physician Johann Ott. Later, the library collection was further expanded by donations made by a pharmacist Zdeněk F. Klan (1894-1951) and botany professors Jan Wilhelm (1876-1931), Karel Cejp (1900-1979) and Vladimír Krajina (1905-1993). The documents belonging to the historical collection of the Botanical Library are usually in German language, but books writen in French and Latin are also common. These documents are subject to specific loan rules.

Besides books, the library collection includes also various course materials used for the lectures and courses provided by staff of the Department of Botany, as well as print versions of various botanical journals, dissertation and theses (for library room use only) and a rather extensive collection of printed or photocopied articles (if you want to search for this type of documents, ask for a specialized card catalogue). The Botanical Library also houses the book and journal collection of the Czech Mycological Society.

The Botanical Library moved to its present rooms in 1961. From that time, it has been gradually reorganised and some parts underwent a major reconstruction. In 2005, the library Study Room was completely re-shaped and in 2009, the disertations and theses were moved to new closed shelves. At present, the library offers to its visitors also a possibility to copy or scan (*.TIFF file type) various documents belonging to its collection (under common copyright laws) using a self-service photocopier/scanner (if necessary, members of library staff will gladly help you with the handling of this device). The price of one single-sided black-and-white copy of A4 format is 2,- Kč.