Institute of Social Science library reopens 20 months after floods
One of the institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Social Science, has re-opened its library to students and the broader public.
The library was devastated during the catastrophic floods in 2002 but as of Tuesday it again offers some 11,000 books. Before the floods the library of the Institute of Social Science, located in the historic centre of Prague, housed most of its collection underground. Due to the short evacuation notice, members of the Institute could only move a fraction of the books to safety. The library was flooded by water rising from the sewage system, in some places over the level of 2.5 metres. By the time people could return to the building, a large part of the library's collection was soaked and contaminated. The damage was estimated at 9,000,000 crowns (30,000 euros). The Czech government and foreign donors shared the costs of renovation and buying new books.
