Greece invests 56 million euros in school libraries
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The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs in Greece, with support from the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, will fund a 56.211.420 euro project to strengthen school libraries across the country.
Minister of Education Sofia Zacharakis and Deputy Minister Nikos Papathanasis signed an agreement to include the project, called “Establishment, Strengthening and Enrichment of School Libraries,” within the 2021-2027 ESPA program for Human Resources and Social Inclusion.
The initiative aims to promote reading and connect students with literature, fostering a stronger reading culture in schools. Over 8,000 schools will receive collections of reading material, with 50 titles for kindergartens and up to 100 for other schools. Schools that responded to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education will benefit from these resources. The project will also hire 400 librarians with fixed-term contracts to support two to three schools each, ensuring the libraries function effectively.
In the first phase, librarians will be assigned to existing libraries based on criteria like student-to-library ratios and the size of book collections. Furthermore, the project will digitally upgrade and connect the network of school libraries to the National Library of Greece and public libraries. A national committee will select books and materials to ensure transparency and objectivity. Legislation governing school libraries has also been updated to support the project’s implementation.
