Academic Reading Society (1849 – 1889)
Published on 1 September 2016
Akademický čtenářský spolek (The Academic Reading Society) was founded on 9 January 1849 (the encyclopaedia Ottův slovník naučný actually gives November 1848 as the date of its foundation), under the name Akademický řečnický a čtenářský spolek (The Academic Rhetoric and Reading Society). The club’s activities officially ended on 26 August 1889, when it was dissolved.
The main purpose of the club was to bring together university students and professors. One of its principles was to accept members with no distinction made between their nationalities. Thus, university students, candidates, doctors and professors could become members without discrimination. The original function of the rhetoric and reading club was: “…scientific, rhetorical and political education, which is to be supported by: magazine subscription, library, lectures on scientific and political subjects, debates and speeches in both languages of the province.” In March 1849, the club’s library already contained 300 volumes. Its first librarians were elected on 9 March 1849: the founder of Czech social pedagogy, Gustav Adolf Lindner; and the historian and pedagogue, Karel Tieftrunk.
As early as May 1849, the society was rocked to its foundations when a state of siege was declared and all student societies were abolished. Although the activities of the Academic Rhetoric and Reading Society were severely restricted, it was not dissolved. Among the abolished societies was the Slavie club, founded on 2 April 1848, which passed on its possessions, including collections of minerals, antiques and a library numbering several hundred books, to the Academic Rhetoric and Reading Society. As a consequence, in May 1851 the society's library contained 1,369 volumes. However, its further growth was restricted for a while.
The first major turning point in the society's history came on 10 September 1853, when it was ordered to change its name to the Academic Reading Society. Its activities were greatly limited by governor's decree, and the committee meetings were held in the presence of a police commissioner. Lists of all new books had to be submitted to the police directorate for approval. By 1858, 28 volumes had been confiscated after having been designated as unsuitable for a public library. Among these were Malý’s History of the Czech Nation, the Calendar of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren for 1850, Storch’s Konstituční zábavník (entertainment magazine) and Polehradský’s Picture of the Czech Lands.
The society had to limit all its activities, and became a mere reading club. Only students of universities and technical institutes were allowed to be members, and they could keep their membership for only three years after finishing their studies. According to new rules, no university staff, including professors and administration staff, could be members of the society. The library continued to expand due to significant subsidies. At first it was 455 guldens, but in 1871 the amount increased to 1,518 guldens. The library also continued to grow thanks to its supporters among the ranks of publishers and booksellers. Among the donors there were also various corporations, and of course private individuals, too. Among the best known can be found names like Brandl, Čelakovský, Erben, Frič, Hálek, Náprstek, Neruda, Palacký, Šembera, Tomek and Wocel. Furthermore, the library bought part of the library belonging to the estate of the technology professor Rudolf Skuherský; 457 books were bequeathed to it by the lawyer Karel Komrsek; František Šimáček, the owner of the Posel magazine, donated 161 books; and a collection of 54 beautifully bound books were donated to the society by Otilie Sklenářová-Malá. Thanks to these donations, the library had over 7,000 volumes in the 1860s.
Gradually, the society’s activities expanded to include the organizing of cultural events. Another change came in 1860, when the society declared itself to be Czech-Slavic and adopted Czech as its official language. It was perceived by its members and the wider public as an organization representing students in societal and national affairs. From 1857 the society began to organize concerts and amateur theatre shows on a regular basis; and from 1870 on, in addition, balls and dances, which were very popular.
Although in 1852 the society wished to publish its own magazine, and in fact tried to publish its own almanac in 1857, permission was not received from the authorities. Only on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary was the society able to publish the The Almanac of Czech Studentry and A Brief History of the Academic Society, which were followed by the regular publication of The Calendar of Czech Studentry and, of course, annual reports, which the society began to publish in 1865. The society actively participated in various patriotic events. The society’s library served its members for scientific and general education. In 1888 it contained over 15,450 works in 21,780 volumes, and more than 200 magazines, of which 152 were from Bohemia and 23 from other Slavic countries. The society actively supported its student members, who it helped find tutoring, paid jobs as educators, and so on.
The Academic Reading Society achieved its peak in the 1870s, when it had over 1,000 members. In the 1880s the society expanded its activities yet again, when it got involved in political events under the influence of the National Liberal Party (Mladočeši). However, this had a negative effect on the society, as from that time it found itself increasingly under the scrutiny of the authorities. The police began to prohibit even their thematic evening lectures.
When in August 1889 the society sent its delegation to Paris to the grand opening of the Sorbonne, the authorities prohibited the organization’s activities for the breaching of statutes and had its clubroom in Spálená Street in Prague closed off. The society was dissolved on 26 August 1889. Subsequently, on 15 March 1890, the dissolution of the society was confirmed by the decision of the imperial court.
Although the society was formally abolished, its spirit endured. Its former members and new students began to organize themselves in the Slavie club. This association also claimed the right to take over the property of the dissolved society, especially the library. However, that decision was in the hands of the municipal council, which at that time was under the influence of the National Party (Staročeši); and so the library of the Academic Reading Society went to the city of Prague and was stored in the refectory of the former St. Wenceslaus Monastery. Thanks to the initiative of the student association Akademický dům (Academic House), the library was reopened under the name,"Municipal Libraries for University Students in St. Wenceslaus Prison.” Yet not everyone could study these books. The library was available only to immatriculated students of Czech universities in Prague, which excluded graduates.
Therefore, the further fate of the original library of the Academic Reading Society was in the hands of the Slavie club. This period is beautifully described by Ferdinand Stocký: “Slavie took great care to improve its library, and in 1891 it already contained 4,000 volumes. At that time, they bought 2,500 books from the deceased Neruda’s housekeeper. In 1893 the library was organized; large rooms were hired in Stará Rychta in Rytířská Street. A new life had begun. Unfortunately, on 14 October 1894 came another blow to the students. Slavie was dissolved, the archive was taken by the police and both libraries - the club's and Neruda's – were thoroughly inspected for political subversiveness, but in vain. The estate was forced into bankruptcy. The whole bankrupt estate was bought by Academic House for 2,530 guldens. As early as the beginning of 1895, the establishment of a student reading room and a library was considered at Academic House. Meanwhile, however, a new Slavie was established, and the entire inventory formerly belonging to the old Slavie was lent to the club. Yet on 15 June 1897 the new Slavie’s committee decided to return the library to AD by 1 August, as it had never attained the significance of the old Slavie and was suffering from financial difficulties.“
The association Academic House convened a general meeting which made a change in the statutes, extending its original purpose, which was to build and manage a house for student organizations; and a reading room and library for Czech students were established. The library of the Academic Reading Society and Slavie were merged, and they were placed together with the reading room in hired premises in Mikulandská Street in Prague. Thus began the existence of the Academic Library in Prague, which despite being created out of the library of the Academic Reading Society wrote its own chapter in history.
