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Purpose – The article focuses on optical data discs in the collections of the two largest Czech libraries and examines how their role has changed in recent decades and what risks they face. It introduces the CDArcha project, which offers tools to protect the content of data optical discs and outlines the steps that need to be taken in the future to ensure that data stored on them remains accessible to library users in the long term. Design/Methodology/Approach – The first part based on the analysis of project documents and other materials explores the situation in the National Library of Czech Republic in the 1990s and at the turn of the 21st century. The second part discusses the situation in the Moravian Library itself and describes the CDArcha project. Results – An outline of measures taken in the past to protect optical discs in the collections of the two largest Czech libraries is presented. In the second section new software tools are introduced; they allow memory institutions to extract data from optical discs and safely store them on a central server to provide protection at the bit level are introduced. Originality/Value – The article provides a summary of the research of the National Library of Czech Republic in the field of optical discs; the topic was long neglected by the professional library community. The CDArcha project, which forms an integral part of the research and development in the Moravian Library, offers tools for libraries and other memory institutions to protect data stored on optical discs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]