Library in Athens
The
National Library of Greece
(
Greek
:
Εθνικ? Βιβλιοθ?κη τη? Ελλ?δο?
,
romanized
:
Ethniki Vivliothiki tis Ellados
) is the main public library of
Greece
, located in
Athens
. Founded by
Ioannis Kapodistrias
in 1832, its mission is to locate, collect, organize, describe and preserve the perpetual evidence of Greek culture and its uptake over time, as well as important representative evidence of human intellectual production. The NLG ensures equal non-access to these items based on the freedom of knowledge, information, and research.
[2]
There is one general manager who serves a four-year term. A board of trustees has seven members with a three or four-year term.
[3]
History
[
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]
The original idea for establishing a National Library was from the philhellene
Johann Jakob Mayer
, in an August 1824 article of his newspaper
Ellinika Chronika
, published at
Missolonghi
, where Mayer and
Lord Byron
had been promoting
Greece's independence
. Mayer's idea was implemented in 1829 by the new Greek government of
Ioannis Kapodistrias
,
[4]
who grouped together the National Library with other intellectual institutions such as schools, national museums, and printing houses. These were all placed in a building (then being used as an orphanage) on the island
Aegina
and supervised by
Andreas Moustoxydis
, who thus became president of the committee of the Orphanage, director of the
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
, and director of the National School.
At the end of 1830, the library, which Moustoxydis named the National Library, had 1,018 volumes of printed books, which had been collected from Greeks and philhellenes. In 1834, the library was relocated to Athens, the new capital, and was at first housed temporarily in the public bath in the
Roman Agora of Athens
and then later in the
Panagia Gorgoepikoos
church.
The collection increased rapidly. In addition to the purchase of books from private libraries, supervised by
Dimitris Postolakas
(1,995 volumes), the library accepted many large donations of books, like one from Christoforos and
Konstantinos Sakellarios
(5,400 volumes) and one from
Markos Renieris
(3,401 volumes).
In 1842, the Public Library merged with
Athens University
's library (15,000 volumes), and was housed together with the currency collection at the new building of
Otto
's University. The first director (then-called "president") was
Georgios Kozakis-Typaldos
[5]
of the newly enlarged institution, retaining the job until 1863. At this time, the library was enriched with significant donations and with rare foreign language books from all over Europe. With the royal charter of 1866, the two libraries merged, and were administered as the
"National Library of Greece"
. From 1877 to 1910, its director was
Michael Deffner
.
On 16 March 1888, the foundation stone for a new neoclassical marble building was laid. The building was financed by three
Kefallonian
-born brothers of the
Diaspora
,
Panagis, Marinos and Andreas Vallianos
. It was designed by
Baron Theophil von Hansen
and its construction supervised by
Ernst Ziller
. The library remained in the older University building until 1903, when it was relocated to the new
Vallianeion Megaron
, which still partly houses the library in addition to two other buildings, at
Agia Paraskevi
and
Nea Halkidona
. The
Vallianeion Megaron
forms part of the
Trilogy
of neo-classical buildings at
Panepistimiou Street
in central Athens, including the
Academy of Athens
and the original building of the
Athens University
.
Holdings
[
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]
The National Library of Greece houses over 1 million items, 300 million electronic resources, and over 15,000 newspaper and magazine titles. The library has 5,500 Greek manuscripts which is one of the greatest collection of Greek scrips.
[6]
There are also many
chrysobulls
and archives of the
Greek Revolution
.
Among the library's holdings are a
codex
of the four
Gospels
attributed to the scribe Matthew; uncial codex with a fragment
Gospel of Matthew
from 6th century (
Uncial 094
),
Flora Graeca Sibthorpiana
by English botanist
John Sibthorp
;
Charta of Greece
by
Rigas Velestinlis
;
The Large Etymological Dictionary
, a historic
Byzantine
dictionary; and the first publication of
Homer
's epics and hymns.
[7]
Some other manuscripts:
Uncial 075
,
Uncial 0161
,
Minuscule 798
.
The NLG also has over 4,000 works of art, approximately one million archival documents from public and private collections, 10,000
posters
,
maps
,
papyri
,
musical scores
, and
microfilms
.
[6]
Relocation to Phaleron Bay
[
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]
The Vallianeion Megaron building has long been inconvenient due to limited space and technology demands. Although it will continue to house some of its current functions, the bulk of the library in 2018 was relocated to a new 22,000-square meter building at the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
on the
Phaleron Bay
"Delta". The 20-hectare Delta is a seafront area that used to host the Athens horse race track, which was replaced by the
Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre
for the
Athens 2004 Olympics
. Italian architect
Renzo Piano
proposed a radical new plan for the National Library and the
National Opera of Greece
, and the project was funded by the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
and donated to the Greek state. The twin buildings are integrated within a landscaped park with indigenous
Mediterranean flora
, and feature extensive
renewable energy
facilities and a central plaza around a 30-m wide seawater channel. Work on the project started in 2012 with completion due for 2016.
[8]
Library Associations
[
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]
Greece
has one national library association, the Association of Greek Librarians and Information Scientists (AGLIS).
[9]
AGLIS was founded in 1968 and represents Greek librarians to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
[10]
AGLIS is also a member of The
European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations
(EBLIDA).
[11]
in Spring 2021, AGLIS partnered with the Heritage Management Organization (HMO) to enhance its ability to meet the needs of Greek Libraries and their patrons.
[12]
Locations
[
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]
Main Location:
Stavros Niarchos Foundataion Cultural Center
Syggrou Avenue
364, 17674,
Kallithea
Historic Vallianeio Building
Panepistimiou Str.
32, 10679,
Athens
(former NLG headquarters, now hosting NLG's Newspapers Collection)
Votanikos Building
Athinon Avenue
31-33 and Spirou Patsi Str. 12,10447,
Athens
See also
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References
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Sources
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External links
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