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
Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall| The Archive of Giorgos Kouroupos at the “Lilian Voudouri” Music Library
The archive of the contemporary composer Giorgos Kouroupos (b. 1942), who with his wide and varied work has left his indelible mark on Greek music, has recently been transferred to the Greek Music Archive of the Music Library of the Friends of Music Society at the Athens Concert Hall. The archive came to the "Lilian Voudouris" Music Library after a donation by the composer himself in April 2024. It is precisely this fact that is noteworthy, namely that Giorgos Kouroupos donated his archive to the Music Library while he was alive, a tactic they have followed ...More
Athens City Festival| Open Call for submission of artistic proposals
The Municipality of Athens renews the summer cultural rendezvous with the citizens and visitors of the city, organizing from June to October 2024 four festivals, in neighborhoods, squares and parks in the seven municipal communities of Athens, in the open-air theaters of Gravas and Kolonos and in Goudi Grove. The rich program of festival events will be curated OPANDA and will include concerts, theatrical performances, dance and tributes, which aim to highlight the particularities of each neighborhood, the beautiful and often unknown corners of the city, renewing the residents' relationship with their city, Athens. For the ...More
University of Patras| Health4EUKids: an innovative program for childhood obesity| 22 April 2024
Apostolos Vandarakis, Professor of Medicine, Univeristy of Patras It is a pioneering European program for the improvement of children's health (pre-school and school age) in which our country participates. The implementing bodies of the programme are the 6th Regional Health Department and the University of Patras, under the supervision of Professor A. Vandarakis (Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Patras Medical School). Volunteer doctors participating in the program are provided by the Paediatric Clinic of the University General Hospital of Patras, under the direction of Professor G.Demetriou. The program, which is implemented in many European countries, aims ...More
2023 ELEUSIS| Pilot Cities| 22 April 2024
Last March, the residents of Elefsina were asked to define the place of culture in their city as well as their priorities for the future, in the context of the 2nd self-assessment workshop of the international participatory planning programme Pilot Cities of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture. An international participatory planning project – an initiative by the European organisation in cooperation with the Culture Committee of the international UCLG organisation – United Cities and Local Governments. The presentation of the particularly fruitful results of the workshop will take place on 22 April at the Cine Eleusis. Elefsina is the ...More
Leave A Comment