European Voluntary Service

EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE (EVS)

If you consider joining EVS in The North Bohemian Research Library, please let me draw your attention to information on this issue.

About The Czech Republic

We have 4 seasons in the year in The Czech Republic. In Autumn it is cold and damp, we have snow and freezes (about -10°C, sometimes coldlier) in Winter, in Spring the snow melts and thaws, Summer is not so hot as for example in Spain or southern Italy or Egypt (average temperature in The Czech Republic is about 25°C). So if you plan to stay on your EVS in The Czech Republic for the whole year, it is necessary to take various clothes with you – warm for the Winter, summery for the Summer and something between for Autumn and Spring.

The capital city of The Czech Republic is Prague. It is the biggest city in The Czech Republic (it has about one million inhabitans) and there is the residence of our president. It has a beautiful historical centre with many monuments and sights.

Currency of The Czech Republic is Czech crown (CZK, Kc). Some shops also accept Euros, but it is not usual. So your pocket money from EVS programme will be paid out to you in CZK (Kc).

It is good to know that if you ask anyone in The Czech Republic "How are you?" people mostly answer either "tolerably" or "not so well". It is normal that people even if they are fine answer as mentioned above. It is a kind of a stereotype. Also you should be prepared to unsmiling faces in the streets. Especially in public transport people look reservedly and unapproachably.

Some useful links:

http://www.czech.cz/

http://www.use-it.cz/

About Usti nad Labem

Usti nad Labem is situated on both banks of the river Elbe (Labe). It is an industrial city so sometimes especially in Autumn, there may occur thick smog. So if you suffer from any kind of allergy you might have some minor problems with your breath.

In Usti you can go by buses or trolleybuses or on foot as you like. For bus and trolleybus you need to buy a ticket or have a prepaid card on transport. Ordinary transfer ticket costs 16 Czech crowns (Kc), monthly prepaid card costs 410 Kc or 205 Kc if you are a student under 26 years. So if you have an ISIC it is good to take it with you. You will not have a discount only on fare but also for example on tickets to the cinema. To travel to another city you can use train or bus. There are two train stations and one bus station.

In the centre there areloads of various restaurants, bars and clubs. If you like coctails you can visit a bar Saturnin which is not far from Mirove namesti (Peace Square). If you would like to taste good Czech beer you can visit a restaurant "Na Rychte". Also in the other parts of the city there are various restaurants, bars and clubs and it is not problem to find some favourite.

In the centre of Usti there is a large shopping centre where a cinema is situated too. Across the road of library building in W. Churchilla Street there is an open air cinema. Usti has also two theatres. The North Bohemian Theatre of Opera and Ballet is situated in the centre on Lidicke namesti (Square named after village Lidice). The second one is Cinoherni klub (Drama Society) and it is situated on the other bank of the river Labe in Varsavska Street.

In Usti there are many beautiful view points on the city. One of them is Vetruse and you can go there by cableway from shopping centre. Another one is for example the Strekov Castle.

If you like fitness, zumba, jumping and so on, you can visit fitness centre Amazonky which is placed not far from the library. If you like cycling you can try the cycling path which runs through Usti.

In spite of the fact that Usti is industrial city, it is situated in a beautiful landscape as we have metioned in our description in EVS database. So you can make a lot of trips to the surroundings of the city. If you like nature you can go for example to the Ceske Stredohori. Popular are hills Radobyl, Lovos and Milesovka which is the highest peak of the Ceske Stredohori. If you like history, you can visit castle in Velke Brezno or towns Terezin and Litomerice which are about 20-25 km far from Usti nad Labem and you can go there by train, by bus or by bike.

If you like nightlife there is a little warning for you. It is not so safe to go through quarters Predlice, Trmice, Mojzir and Krasne Brezno at night. They are not ghettos, but these four quarters belong to so called exclude locality (you may have heard of Maticni Street). But it is not so bad as it appears in the media and Agency for social integration works in most of them.

Some useful links:

http://www.usti-nad-labem.cz/en/

About library

As we mentioned in our description in EVS database we are a regional library, it means we are a quite big library - about 100 employees. Unfortunately the whole library is not placed in one building. We have two main buildings in the centre of Usti nad Labem and 7 branch libraries in the area of Usti nad Labem. But don't worry, you will mostly be working in two main buildings that are not so far from each other. At the beginning there will be someone who takes you here and there and we will give you a map too.

The library is divided in a number of departments. You can work in one of them or you can change them during your EVS. It depends on the project you will participate in and on your decision.

If you attend a library in your home town you may imagine what it is about. As you may know, library is about lending books, but not only about it. We also prepare some presentations and exhibitions for public, we build up digital database, organize PC and internet courses for seniors, etc. In the future we would like to run courses for students on working with the internet databases, on browsing the internet to get needed information, or on making quotations properly. So you can take part in it if you will be interested. Or you can work in Children’s Library and facilitate an internet club for children and youth and help with informative lectures and activities there. And so on and so on. The other possibilities are written in our description in EVS database and it is up to you and deal between you and us what you would like to do in our library during your EVS.

In case of any further questions, feel free to contact us via e-mail evs@svkul.cz.

Note

Finally we decided for a volunteer for our new project for February 2013 deadline. When we look for volunteers again, we put there an announcement.

YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME

Pro knihovny (For the libraries)

Jako výstup z našeho prvního projektu s názvem EVS in Library jsme vytvořili elektronického průvodce Evropskou dobrovolnou službou pro knihovny. Zapracovali jsme do něj jak své postřehy, tak postřehy naší dobrovolnice, která v knihovně pobývala a pracovala 6 měsíců. Myslíme si, že knihovny mají v oblasti Evropské dobrovolné služby co nabídnout, a doufáme, že se jich do tohoto projektu zapojí více. Průvodce je volně ke stažení.

Průvodce EDS pro knihovny (formát pdf, vel. 259 kB)