Greece’s treasures go digital as libraries come to grips with high-tech methods
At a time when paper is battling the computer screen and our reading habits are changing, Greek libraries are trying find their feet on the information superhighway. Electronic cataloging of their archives and digitizing the material are two necessary preconditions if they are to attract new visitors and function smoothly. In Britain the government has decided that all libraries should have a free Internet connection, and recently the French National Library digitized some of its most valuable acquisitions, such as Proust’s «A la recherche du temps perdu,» so as to make them accessible on the Internet. During this crucial transitional period, Kathimerini spoke to people in charge of the four largest libraries in Athens about the difficulties and their plans for the future. Books in boxes The Municipal Library was founded by the first mayor of Athens, Anargyros Petrakis, but wasn’t handed over to the public for about 100 years. And it was only a few years after it went into operation in the building on Kotzia Square in 1985 that it ran into trouble. The second floor, which houses the library, had to be refurbished, especially after the 1999 earthquake, and the books are all in storage in boxes. But now the space is used for meetings of the municipal council, while the books will not go back onto shelves until the neoclassical Afxentiou mansion (an area of about 1,000 sq.m.) near Larissa station (Domokou and Paioniou streets) is refurbished. Elly Evangelidou, vice president of the Cultural Organization of Athens Municipality, and Rania Melianou, who is in charge of the library, say that the new library – which will also be a lending facility – will soon be ready. This, however, is the same old story we’ve been hearing for years. The question is why the library has stayed shut for so many years and the residents of Athens have had no access to it. Shouldn’t the managers of the building arrange to make this collection of 80,000 books and extensive holdings accessible, including documents connected with the recent history of Athens, the archives of Giorgos Vlachou and other notables, and the Marasleio Library? Considering that it is supposed to be a popular lending library, all the delays and the years without operation have the done the City of Athens a serious disservice.
