Artotéka, a department focused on fine arts, is part of the Opatov branch of the municipal library. In addition to art publications, it also includes a collection of Czech graphic art from the second half of the 20th century and reproductions of Czech and international paintings. The establishment of Artotéka is linked to the development of the Opatov housing estate. In addition to the everyday borrowing of books and intellectual stimulation, the concept of the newly emerging library also offered the possibility of borrowing works of art outside the walls of public institutions. The opportunity to borrow these works for home use was motivated primarily by the desire to bring art to the general public without the need for large financial costs. The educational potential offered by this method of sharing not only led to the possibility of inexpensive furnishing of apartments in the newly emerging housing estate, but above all to the sharing of physical goods without the need to own them. Contact with works of art is mediated here outside the framework of gallery operations and extends into the private lives of anyone who owns a reader card, which allows them to take selected works home for six months. Although it seems that the art library system circumvents market logic, which defines a work of art as a commodity, the question remains: what role does the physical sharing of works of art play today, in the age of file sharing on the internet? Is the original work of art an object of desire, or has sampling taken over our minds and relegated the concept of the aura of a work to the dustbin of art history?
