Search

Public libraries are special places, Don’t you think!

gabiconstantine
Jan 8, 2018
1 min read

If ever you visit Zlin, my home town in southern Moravia you will more than likely notice that most of the buildings have a boxy shape to them. This is a reflection to the Bata era. The man himself turned Zlin into the shoe capital of the World. A brilliant innovator who created a utopian factory village for all his workers, offering them houses, health care and a good salary, unheard of almost a century ago.

The red brick homes he built are still very popular today, a landmark throughout the town.

After two World wars, a long period of communism control and now finally democracy the factory is still a main feature of Zlin.

The shoe making production has long stopped unfortunately. But the factory still lives on, becoming the home of small companies, shops, restaurants, bars, part of the towns university and public library.

And it is the public library which I visited today in the 14th building of the 14/15 Bata Institute.

The František Bartoš Regional Library. The largest one in the area and housing more than a half million books and documents.

And I love to read books!