Become a Volunteer at the Václav Havel Library

We like using volunteers during the organisation of cultural events, debates and discussions or conferences, the processing of archive materials, the delivery of materials and so on.

We offer short and long-term internships at the Václav Havel Library to serious applicants from the ranks of Czech and international students. Interns are especially welcomed from the areas of librarianship and archiving, but they may be oriented towards any of the other activities of the Václav Havel Library or any other areas associated with the organisation’s operations.

We welcome knowledge of the English language (or German or French), while a knowledge of Czech is an advantage for international interns. The minimum length of an internship is 6 weeks and the maximum length is 1 year. After completing the internship, the participant receives a certificate with an evaluation. The internships take place after a prior agreement reached with the potential intern and it is necessary to agree to the internship dates approximately 2 months in advance. The internships at the Václav Havel Library are not paid and we do not secure transport or accommodation for the interns.

If you are interested in an internship at Václav Havel Library, you can contact us by email: info@vaclavhavel-library.org

Speech to Joint Session of the United States Congress, Washington

„We are still a long way from that „family of man;“ in fact, we seem to be receding from the ideal rather than drawing closer to it. Interests of all kinds: personal, selfish, state, national, group and, if you like, company interests still considerably outweigh genuinely common and global interests. We are still under the sway of the destructive and thoroughly vain belief that man is the pinnacle of creation, and not just a part of it, and that therefore everything is permitted. There are still many who say they are concerdend not for themselves but for the cause, while they are demonstrably out for themselves and not for the cause at all. We are still destroying the planet that was entrusted to us, and its environment. We still close our eyes to the growing social, ethnic and cultural conflicts in the world. From time to time we say that the anonymous megamachinery we have created for ourselves no longer serves us but rather has enslaved us, yet we still fail to do anything about it.“

Václav Havel:
Speech to Joint Session of the United States Congress, Washington
February 21, 1990