Studying non-stop in the Zbrojnice (Armoury Building) Night Reading Room is now possible even during non-working days. Without being disturbed, students can spend their time over scholarly books, textbooks and/or prepare their seminar papers – even from Saturday to Monday, or during holidays.
The Night Reading Room will also be available to students when the Central Library Building at Zbrojnice is closed. “We will only keep the necessary closing hours during the weekdays between 6 am and 8 am when the employees go to or from work, otherwise the reading room will be open practically non-stop. In addition to night-time operation it is open all day,” explained Helena Sedláčková, Head of the Palacký University Library.
By extending the services the Library management is meeting the wishes of the students, who in large numbers use the premises for study in the night hours. “During the three years since we’ve opened the Night Reading Room we have successively added more opening hours. The demand for it is significant and students have repeatedly asked us to extend our services for weekends. We’ll see how much they will take advantage of staying from Saturday 4 pm till Monday 6 am, for example” noted the UP Library Head.
The Night Reading Room is situated on the ground-floor of the UP Central Library at the Zbrojnice (Armoury), and during the day it is accessible via the Library reception. From 10 pm the access is enabled directly through the door in the Zbrojnice courtyard. Entry into the Zbrojnice through the main building reception is possible with a student ID card at regular intervals. “The system is strictly established that the porter lets people in and out on the hour but students have to arrange other times personally,” pointed out Helena Sedláčková.
The Night Reading Room, with a capacity of 30 seats, was first opened in October 2013. It’s equipped with a university wi-fi connection, a microwave oven and sanitary facilities. For safety reasons, a camera system linked with the Zbrojnice porter is installed, too.
The first UP Night Reading Room was established at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. It has been serving UP students continually since the Summer Semester of 2013.