‘One-of-a-kind’ music library at Athens Megaron
Christos Lambrakis described the Lilian Voudouri Music Library in the new wing of the Athens Concert Hall as «a library of all the Muses.» He was speaking at the official opening of the library’s new space on March 15. «It was the vision of the Friends of Music,» said the library’s director, Stephania Merakou, «to create a one-of-a-kind music library. It was designed and organized by a team of musicologists, librarians and computer specialists led by Christoph Stroux.» The library was donated by the Lilian Voudouri Foundation and is operated with support from the Alexandros Triantis Legacy and with valuable financial support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The library opened in February 1997 and has 6,500 members. Its holdings include music-related material from traditional cultures, as well as jazz, 130,000 books, recordings, scores and titles on microfiche and microfilm. It also has multimedia, bibliographical material on CD Rom, and Internet access to databases and resources. One valuable resource is the Greek Music Archive, its most precious section being the archive of Greek composers and artists, which can be used for research purposes. Until the move, the library was on the first floor of the Concert Hall, where there was no room for it to expand into electronic communications. The new 3,800-square-meter space is on four levels, the first two of which are occupied by the Reading Room. At ground-floor level is the Teaching Room, which has space for 100 people and is equipped with the latest projection and sound systems. On other levels are the cataloging department and the stacks, which hold most of the library’s collection in conditions of controlled atmosphere and humidity. With funding from the Psifis program, the library is completing the digitization of its files through the Information Society program. So far it has digitized 300,00 items from its archives. Membership is open to anyone 15 years of age or over who possesses an identity card. Members may use the library’s material free of charge on the premises.
