Chania Municipal Library was founded in 1954 and occupies an area of 800 sq. m. in the Town Hall. It plays an important role in the local society because of its valuable collection which comprises:

• printed material,
• books,
• newspapers,
• journals,
• rare editions,
• archives,
• photos,
• maps,
• posters and
• audiovisual material (cd, dvd.)

It is one of the largest and most significant municipal libraries in Greece.

Among the valuable collections of the Library we find the personal library of Eleftherios Venizelos which comprises 8,500 volumes of books, photographs, rare maps, case files etc.

The creation of the Media Lab (2013), which was financed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, transformed and upgraded Chania Municipal Library. The Media Lab is a new, peasant, modern and inviting space for all.

It features:

• Collaborative meeting spaces
• Reading spaces
• Web browsing
• Music studio for music recording and video production
• Brain pulse for relaxation and entertainment

The Municipal Library also comprises special branches for children and adolescents:

• Library for Children and Adolescents (in the Municipal Garden), tel.: 2821 3 41774
• Souda Library for Children and Adolescents, tel.: 2821 3 41221
• Stalos Municipal Library, tel.: 2821 0 99787

Its Mobile Library meets the needs of the School Community and especially of those children who have no access to School or Municipal Libraries.

The Libraries of our Municipality work together with Cultural Entities, Libraries, Schools, Museums, and Foundations etc. and organise several events.

• Meetings with writers and
• book presentations,
• seminars,
• Reading Clubs,
• Programmes that promote reading among children and adolescents,
• various activities for children and educational activities,
• Summer Campaign for the promotion of Reading & Creativity Summer,
• chess lessons,
• theater etc.

Primary and Secondary education students and teachers are given the opportunity to participate in

• Creative activities programmes,
• Programmes that promote reading,
• teen month,
• guided tours etc.

Students of all educational levels visit the Libraries every day. The aim of the programmes is to promote the love of reading and to foster resourcefulness, creative imagination, sense of humour, and the joy of learning!

Since 2009, two Reading Clubs for adults have been operating in the Municipal Library.

In these difficult times of emergency measures to protect public health, our Municipal Libraries share a message of optimism with all of us and provide new services to the public in an effort to guarantee that we will all continue enjoying reading.

The new Services offered by our Municipal Libraries during the pandemic are:

• Book lending order
• Book lending at home
• Narration – reading of children’s books programme & activities for children on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/LIBRCHAN/videos

Search for recent and older videos.

• Distance reading promotion programmes -via the Webex platform- with primary education students

The Chania Municipal Library supports the following institutions by sending hundreds of copies::

• The Book Swapping Library which was recently donated to the General Hospital of Chania by our Municipality and is currently operating as a reading promotion area for patients and their companions and the medical / nursing staff
• The Book Swapping Library operating in the atrium of Chania Town Hall and is open to all
• Newly-established libraries and libraries of Institutions within our Prefecture.

The Chania Municipal Library also participates in the annual edition of the journal “Εν Χανίοις”. The Head of the Library is also one of the editors and has published several texts since 2007 the year in which the journal was launched.

Art Exhibitions

For the last 8 years, the Chania Municipal Library has been collaborating with various Entities and has organised exhibitions in the Library’s foyer that combine books with visual arts. For instance:

• art exhibition “Moving up from A to Omega” by Ioannis Monogios,
• engraving exhibition “Tracing Erotokritos” by Grigoris Niolis,
• art exhibition “Ney Matogrosso: Beautiful as a Greek – The Greek Mythology inspires a Revolutionary” by Alkistis Michaelidou,
• contemporary art exhibition “Second Reading” by Alexandros Dimitriadis,
• photo exhibition “Bridging Cultures” by Katerina Kalogeraki etc.

The Libraries of the Municipality of Chania are staffed with qualified personnel: 7 librarians and one theatre pedagogue. The Head and the staff of the Library participate in World and Pan-Hellenic Conferences, Scientific one-day conferences and Online seminars.

Distinctions and Awards

• Through its efforts and actions, the Chania Municipal Library has managed to distinguish itself as one of the 10 regional libraries of Greece selected by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation; hence the creation of the MEDIA LAB (financed by the Foundation).
• The Chania Municipal Library was represented by its Head at the 3rd Future Library Unconference which has held in Thessaloniki in 27 – 28 November 2015. The event featured libraries from all over Greece and from more than 17 countries. The Head of our library presented videos of the activities for the years 2013-2015 of the Media Lab and received positive feedback and comments.
• Following a rating process for the Summer Campaign 2016 carried out by the National Library of Greece, the Chania Municipal Library is ranked among the “Silver” Libraries (General Ranking of Libraries). Our library was “awarded” the silver medal as it was placed 11th out of 123 libraries from all over Greece.

The Municipal Library will soon be relocated to its own space, namely a neoclassical building that has been purchased by the Municipality of Chania at the city centre.