Storytellers in Louny

• Five best stories included in the second volume of The Louny Residents' Almanac
• The T-Mobile Fund contributed CZK37,000 to the publication of 300 copies of the almanac

Prague, 10 December 2007 - The municipal library in Louny and the Knihovna třetího tisíciletí civic association (Library of the Third Millenium) have issued the second volume of The Louny Residents' Almanac. The almanac contains the five best stories selected from among thirty works sent in for this year's annual competition by the readers in Louny. Three hundred copies of the almanac have been published by the Koniáš publishing house in Plzeň.

"Thanks to the diverse, long-term activities of the Knihovna třetího tisíciletí civic association, the municipal library in Louny plays an important role as a social institution and a centre of the town's literary culture," says Martina Kemrová, Senior Head of Corporate Communication at T­Mobile, adding: "We very much appreciate the associations' project, which readers in Louny take great interest in, and we are happy to support it financially."

Readers were asked to write a story this year. There were four categories: children up to the age of 12, young people aged 13-16 and 17-20 and people over the age of 20. "The five-member jury awarded a prize for the best work in all categories combined plus four honorable mentions," says Dagmar Bahnerová, a member of the jury, who is also the director of the library, a member of the civic association and the organizer of the whole project. "The winner was twenty-five-year-old Karel David with his smart story that offers a witty response to the present social and political situation."

The five winning stories, written by people in all age categories, have been compiled in a 48­page almanac. None of the five authors is a professional writer; the only professional participating in the project was the graphic artist Jitka Anderleová of Louny, who illustrated the stories with her charming drawings. The preparation and printing of the book cost CZK 47,000, of which the T­Mobile Fund contributed CZK 37,000 while the remaining amount was provided by the town of Louny. The work of the jury, editors, copy editors and the graphic artist was purely voluntary.

"Naturally, we are already making preparations for 2008," says Dagmar Bahnerová. "But we also organize other cultural events, too. For example, an exhibition in memory of Emil Juliš, a local poet, was held recently. We also organize an educational project for senior residents called Třetí věk (The Third Age). And needless to say, we publish books; we have issued 19 titles since the association was set up 15 years ago. In addition to the almanac, a book of tales and legends related to Louny is going to be published soon. Also, a monograph prepared by the composer and musicologist Zdeněk Šesták concerning the local masters of Baroque music will undoubtedly be very interesting."

This is the third year that various projects have received financial contributions from the T-Mobile Fund. Funding set aside for the Louny region is managed by the Community Foundation of Euroregion Labe, which selected projects from among 119 applications from this region, distributing the total amount of CZK 1.7 million among 32 organizations.

More information is available from Dagmar Bahnerová, e-mail: bahnerova@mkl.cz, tel.: 736 645 912

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

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