Libri Prohibiti - Collections

Collections

The Libri Prohibiti’s collection contains Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian exile and samizdat literature and includes monographs, periodicals, archival works, reference resources, and audiovisual materials. As of the 2009, the collection comprises over 29,200 library units and over 2,560 periodicals.

The library is divided into eleven categories based on type, origin, and content of the item.

• Czech Samizdat Monographs and Periodicals

• Includes 14,300 units created from the 1950s through the 1980s during the time of Communist rule. Over 390 of these items are periodicals.

Some of the titles within this section are:

• Edice Expedice

• Petlice

• Popelnice

• Information about Charter 77 (periodical)

• Revolver Revue (periodical)

• Vokno (periodical)

• Czech Exile Monographs and Periodicals

• Includes 7,400 exiled items representing more than 435 publishers and individuals. The library holds many of the publishers' complete productions or editions.

• Monographs and Periodicals of the First and Second World War Resistances

• From World War I, there are a total of 90 items of legionnaire’s literature. From the Czech war exile (1930 to 1945) there is a total of 840 monographs. This collection also includes over 100 different magazines from World War I and World War II.

• Foreign Samizdat Monographs and Periodicals

• Includes more than 380 samizdats and 43 periodicals from Slovakia and over 1,100 samizdats and 290 periodicals of Poland. Russian samizdat and periodicals are marginally represented.

• Foreign Exile Monographs and Periodicals

• Includes more than 720 Slovak and 420 Russian and Ukrainian exile monogrpahs, as well as 50 Slovak and 30 Russian and Ukrainian periodicals. Polish exile literature is marginally represented.

• Foreign-Language Monographs and Periodicals

• Includes over 2,800 monographs and 480 periodicals related to the former Czechoslovakia.

• Documentation and Archives

• Includes a partially processed collection of 1,500 unpublished manuscripts, flyers, posters, photographs, and newspaper clippings that vary in topic and medium. Most of the collection contains written documents that originated from the activity of different organizations and agencies, such as Charter 77, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS), and the East European Information Agency.

• Reference Library - General Subject and Secondary Literature

• Includes over 2,900 books, magazines, and other writings about samizdat and exile literature.

• Audiovisual Section

• Includes recordings of non-conformist music on 2,530 cassettes, 1,200 CD-ROMs, and 200 gramophone records; 750 audio recordings of underground lectures and seminars; 1,260 video documentaries and films, 670 video cassettes, and 350 DVDs.