Vít Richter – pierwszy bibliotekarz Republiki Czeskiej

Vít Richter has been working at the National Library of the Czech Republic since 1971. He has reached all the successive steps in the hierarchy during his professional career – from library assistant to general manager. Since the fall of communism, Richter has continuously played a very important, even key, role in Czech librarianship; he has also been extremely active and appreciated in Slovakia. In the years 1992–1998, he managed the construction of the central warehouse of the National Library, and from 1998 until the present, he has been managing the Librarianship Institute – an extremely important institution of the National Library of the Czech Republic. At the same time, he actively participates in community life – he was one of the restorers of the professional movement and for two decades, he led the Association of Library and Information Professionals of the Czech Republic. Since 1998, he has also been the chairman of the Council of the Central Library of the Czech Republic. By combining these functions, he played an extremely important and positive role in the modernisation of Czech libraries and enjoyed great trust and prestige in the community and beyond. In 2020, in the face of growing problems in the activities of the National Library, he temporarily took up the position of the general manager to organise current affairs at the request of the Minister of Culture.