Abstract
An article is based on the cross-country research of parish, decanal and vicariate libraries in the east part of the Hradec Králové bishopric and on the research of relevant archives. On the base of these sources the development of parish libraries from the half of 18. century to the half of 20. century is described.
Particular examples are used for describing how the private bibliotheca for the vicar's need (Ústí nad Orlicí) was transformated into the vicariate library (Litomyšl), which was to be used by priests, or into the library for public (Skuhrov nad Bělou). These changes occured not only in the thematic structure (homiletic pieces - theological and humanitarian publications - fiction, catechism, nonfiction) but also in the language structure (Latin, German, Czech).