In periods of economic recession and acute social problems, libraries are called upon to play a decisive role in life-long learning, disseminating the use of new technologies and the socialization of young people.
Today, almost all libraries in Greece face serious problems with regard to updating and renewing their holdings, due to the drastic cuts in public and private funding over the last six years.
It is KIKPΕ’s fundamental conviction that the printed book will never become redundant, since it meets practical and emotional needs which electronic publications cannot cover. For this reason, the Foundation plays its part in alleviating the problems faced by libraries by enriching them with publications selected both for their content and their aesthetic merit.
The libraries supported by KIKPE are the most important (and in most cases, the only) focus of educational and cultural activity in the area in which they operate.
The categories of libraries supported by KIKPE are:
- Libraries included in the project for the improvement of libraries, of the not-for-profit Future Library organization.
- Regional libraries that as of yet do not meet the requirements of the Future Library project.
- Libraries in rural Greece, which were founded by distinguished local figures or were bequests of expatriate Greeks to their birthplace, or were formed by dynamic groups active in the local society, frequently in highly adverse circumstances. Thus, for example, the Library of Palaia Roumata in the Prefecture of Chania was formed from whatever was available, during the German Occupation, and has operated continuously to this day.
- Libraries of research centres, such as the “Archive of Social History”, “Mnemon”, the “Historical Museum of Herakleion”, as well as academic chairs of Modern Greek Studies, such as the Krumbacher Chair in the University of Munich.
- Libraries in educational foundations or cultural centres of Greek communities abroad, such as the “Greek Cultural Centre” in Auckland, New Zealand.
