Rethymno Public Library

The Public Library of Rethymno: The Public Library of Rethymnon is placed in the center of the old quarters of the town, on 26 Agias Varvaras st. Its collection consists of books with various themes, such as history, literature, children literature and books about Crete and Rethymnon in particular. It includes about 130,000 volumes of books and magazines, while the reading area is big enough to accommodate 450 readers.

The Library also counts on two mobile libraries that visit primary and secondary schools throughout Crete and give priority to the schools that do not have their own library. There is also a Public Information Centre, which was created to help the get in touch with the new technologies.

This center has twelve desks with multimedia-equipped computers, free Internet access and a large number of educational and training CD-ROMs and DVDs. It also offers the possibility to access the electronic catalogs of the Library and other useful national and international databases. The Public Information Centre is available for both the inhabitants of the prefecture and the visitors.

This Library plays an important role for the people of Rethymnon. In fact, the first attempt to create a library accessible to all the population was made by the Society of the Friends of Education of Rethymnon in the late 19th century. At first, only a few books were donated to the library but along time the number of books donated by individuals or bought by donations increased.

In 1953, the library became public and its administration was granted to the Ministry of Culture. A difficult period followed, from 1953 to 1966, but the Library finally managed to survive and today it successfully serves 30,000 pupils, students and private individuals every year.

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