The cultural treasure of the city
Municipal Library of Patra
Adress: 110 Maizonos Str., Patras
Tel. of Reading Room +30 2610 224813
mail: [email protected]
https://patraslibrary.weebly.com
Municipal Library of Patra
The origins of the Municipal Library of Patras lie in the donation of the library of the “Patra Craft Company” to the Municipality of Patras in 1903.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Αναγνωστήριο / Municipal Library of Patras – Reading Room
In 1908, after petitions through the local Press, the Municipal Library of Patras was founded, and the first Supervisory Committee was elected. The Library was housed in the school on the corner of Gounari and Karaiskaki Streets. Two years later, in 1910, the official opening ceremony took place.
The Library closed in 1926, abandoned, and its contents were stored in the basement of the Municipality until 1944, when a group of book lovers transported them to the house of former mayor Ioannis Vlachos and subsequently to the Karamandani Mansion, on 42 Maizonos Street.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Αρχιτεκτονικό σχέδιο / Municipal Library of Patra – Floorplan
In 1947 the postwar Municipal Library was inaugurated, with 18,200 books, mostly donated by the public. In 1948, by royal decree, the Library became a legal entity governed by public law. In 1955 the new building was inaugurated, and the books transported there.
Since 2011, the Library is part of a newly founded legal entity governed by public law, under the name “Municipal Library-Cultural Organization of the Municipality of Patras”. It comprises the Central Library (110 Maizonos Street) and the Annex (Eleftheria Square, 26 Fokaias Street). The ground floor houses the Children’s Department and the Municipal Gallery. Visitors can use the reading room, borrow books, access the Internet, use the computers for research purposes, and there are workstations for people with disabilities.
Head of the Library is the librarion Ms. Aikaterini Kourou
Future plans
The Municipal Library of Patras falls under the category of public libraries. Within this framework, its plans include the restoration of the buildings and the upgrading of services and functions, in order to develop into a large central public library that will support the right to self-education and public education, providing access to every resident of the city. Furthermore, it may also become the centre of a network of municipal/public libraries in the neighbouring municipalities and regions.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Εκπαιδευτικό πρόγραμμα / Municipal Library of Patra − Educational programme
For the moment, a study for the creation of a modern section for children/teenagers, a department for digital technologies and an exhibition of rare books and documents is underway.
Moreover, funding is being sought for the installation of digital services through the use of radio-frequency identification technology (RFID).
ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ
National Library of Greece | A New Era for the “Philippos Iliou” Bibliographic Lab
The National Library of Greece (NLG) announces the successful migration of the online catalog of the “Philippos Iliou” Bibliographic Lab from the old technological infrastructure hosted at the Benaki Museum to the NLG’s modern bibliographic documentation environment. The Lab, which serves as a fundamental pillar for the study of the social history of the printed word and the compilation of a retrospective National Bibliography from the dawn of Greek printing through the 19th century, now integrates its wealth of records into the international machine-readable cataloging standard MARC 21, unifying this valuable material with the National Library’s ...More
Open University of Cyprus: New application cycle for programs beginning in January 2027
A new academic journey can begin in January. The Open University of Cyprus (OUC) is accepting applications from September 16 through November 10, 2026, for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as for standalone courses, with classes beginning in the spring semester of the 2026–2027 academic year. The programs are offered online through the University’s three schools, covering a wide range of contemporary academic disciplines. Humanities and Social Sciences: Culture, Language, Society, and Bioethics The School of Humanities and Social Sciences covers fields ranging from Greek culture and language to politics, theater, and bioethics, combining ...More
Benaki Museum of Greek Culture | “Cahiers D’art, 100 Years: Through the Collections of the Benaki Museum.” | October 14, 2026–January 24, 2027
In 1926, the critic Christian Zervos founded the magazine Cahiers d’Art in Paris. By featuring archaeology, ethnography, and modern art in its issues—transcending geographical and temporal boundaries—it fostered a dialogue between works of art from ancient civilizations and works by artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Pablo Picasso, Le Corbusier, and Sigfried Giedion. Through the texts and black-and-white photographs on the magazine’s pages, the general public was introduced to a new perspective on modern art—one that transcends time and place. To mark the 100th anniversary of the iconic magazine’s launch this year, the publishing house is organizing ...More
My Mother Cast Me into the Sea | The hit show returns at Pireos 260
As part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival’s program titled “Fall – ECHOES,” which focuses on reviving/presenting some of its productions that still have untapped potential, Pireos 260 once again welcomes the play My Mother Cast Me into the Sea by Themis Panou and Vilia Hatzopoulou. 1950. On her first teaching assignment, a teacher leaves mainland Greece and travels to a small island in the Cyclades to teach at a one-room elementary school. This journey across the map sparks an inner monologue, born either of a pressing need or of a deep, previously unknown desire. It is, ...More
Leave A Comment