Strengthening Modern Greek Collections

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Report on the profile of the Library of the Hellenic Parliament

Evridiki Abadjis-Skassis
Hellenic Parliamentary Library

Terms of reference

The Library of the Hellenic Parliament was established in 1845. Today, it is located in three different sites: the Central Library, on the second floor of the Parliament building which was initially constructed as the Palace of Otto, the first King of Greece; the Benakios Annex, located next to the old Parliament building, and the Lenorman Avenue Annex -- formerly a tobacco factory -- that is now classified as a historical monument.

The Library is a closed stacks one. It opens for the public all year through, Monday to Saturday, in the mornings and in the evenings. It is also open - with reduced staff by shifts - during the parliamentary sessions late at nights, in case minutes or legislation are sought. The primary mission of the Library is to service the Members of Parliament and their assistants, as well as the staff of the Institution in general. As the Library developed, its range of services has come to include the entire governmental establishment in all its branches and the public as well; researchers , journalists, professors and students interested mostly in newspapers, periodicals and books, on law, economics and political science .

The Library is a non-lending one except for the Members of Parliament. Rare books, manuscripts, newspapers and journals, maps, parliamentary proceedings and other reference books are not lent out.

Staff and organization

The Library of the Hellenic Parliament has a staff of over 45 in the following departments:

• Books' Department
• Department of Daily and Periodical Press
• Department of Electronic Cataloguing and Microfilming
• Preservation of Books and Works Departmen
• Department of the Benakios Library

Collections

The collections of the Library include: books; newspapers and periodicals; archives; special collections of leaflets; engravings; maps and other materials and microfilms.

Books

The Parliamentary Library, being a general depository library,includes in its collections book material referring to all sciences and topics, published in Greece.

The Parliamentary Library contains approximately 1,200,000 volumes although a stock check has not been made recently. It is estimated that the new acquisitions amount to 5500 monographs per year: 4500 titles coming from the local production and 1000 titles published mainly in English, French and German. The Central Library includes the following categories of publications; Ancient Greek and Roman authors, History, Geography, Economics, Politics and Law. The Benakios Annex covers the following subject areas: Philosophy, Greek and Foreign Literature, Fine Arts, Education, Mathematics, Physics, Martial Sciences, Medicine and Theology. University textbooks exist in both libraries for the use of students.

There are approximately 10,000 volumes of rare and valuable books published from 1471 to 1800; the Library has published a catalogue of the incunabula & publications of the 15th and 16th centuries in 2 volumes, as well as rare books published after 1800 that are out of circulation or bear the notes in handwriting of famous scholars, such as Rigas Velestinlis', heroic personality of the 17th century,and books published by Greek editors or in Greek printing houses until 1832. The collection includes works of A. Korais, Rigas Velenstinlis, A. Koumas and other writers of the era of the Greek Enlightenment. Finally, the personal library of Psycharis-Renan, housed in the Benakios Annex. (32,000 titles) ,and special individual book collections donated to our Library by important politicians (Ioannis Metaxas, Georges Sideris, Panagis Tsaldaris, Ioannis Kafandaris and others).

Newspapers and periodicals

The Library has one of the best collections of newspapers and periodicals dating from the 18th century to our time; in particular 1200 titles of periodicals, which are presently in circulation, plus 2000 titles which have been withdrawn and 5000 titles of newspapers. The collection includes foreign newspapers and periodicals to which the Library subscribes yearly. The collection of greek periodicals and newspapers is available to the public, whereas the collection of foreign newspapers and periodicals is undergoing a change of location at the Lenorman Annex, and it is out of reach for the time being. The Parliamentary Library includes also the Official Goverment Gazette, the Parliamentary Proceedings of the Greek and foreign Parliaments and publications of national and international organizations.

Archives

The archive collection includes manuscripts concerning the Hellenic Regeneration that have been published in 17 volumes. We estimate that we have unpublished material to cover another 2-3 volumes. These include documents dated from the Greek Revolution (1821-1832) up to the arrival of King Otto (1832) taken from the archives of the Library. The work has received a National Academy Award and soon it will also appear in CD-ROM form . Additionally, the Library possess private archives donated by important Greek personalities, such as the personal archives of I.Papadiamadopoulos,fighter of the Greek Revolution (1821),of M.Renieris,professor of Philosophy of Law, the archive of N.P.Dimitrakopoulos, professor of Civil Law and Minister of Justice in the first government of Eleftherios Venizelos.This archive also includes four letters written by Elefterios Venizelos, and originals of all the Greek Constitutions, the Oath Protocols of Heads of State (Kings and Presidents of the Republic). The archive collection of documents, manuscripts and codices is not vast but itdoes not lack in historical interest.

Special Collections

There are also special collections such as collection of leaflets of historical and philological interest which includes the proclamations announced by Alexandros Ypsilantis at Iasio on February 24, 1821,the proclamation of King Otto given to the greek people at the day of his maturity, the historical speech of the Prime Minister of the Liberation Georgios Papandreou given to the people of Athens on October 18, 1944 etc. There is also the collection of 5,000 Greek and foreign maps dated from 1500-until today that are being currently catalogued in our computer system.This collection includes the Map of Greece by Rigas Velestinlis, unique military maps, archeological charts of 19th century by Curtius Kaupert, and many others, collections of engravings which includes representations of historical personalities such as Ioannis Kapodistrias, Alexandros Ypsilantis, King Otto, as well as potrayal of greek landscapes and monuments, collection of photographs (3,000), referring to the Oath Ceremonies of Speakers of the Parliament, Presidents of State and Members of Parliament, collection of posters, diaries and albums, and a small collection of tapes on political events.

Microfilms

Finally, we have a growing collection of microfilms. The Microfilm Department was established in 1984. It is equipped with five microfilming cameras, two developing and two duplication machines. This department is located in 218 Lenorman Avenue and due to its increasing size became a second annex of the Library. The most important Greek newspapers since 1790 and official government publications such as the Official Gazette and the Parliamentary Minutes have been microfilmed in order to protect them from overuse. The Athens and Thessaloniki daily Greek newspapers are being systematically microfilmed since 1984. For this purpose, they are collected from the newspaper agencies, they are inspected, classified and microfilmed. The originals are kept, without being bound. Gradually, new current titles are being added to the list of microfilm material. The ultimate goal is to finally include all the mewspapers printed in Greece and abroad. A continuous effort is also being made to go back to the very start of each of these current titles. Archives, press clippings, rare books, periodicals and manuscripts plus endangered material are also subjected to microfilming. Today, the microfilm collection amounts to over 6,000 items. Microfilms are available to the public at the Central Library and the Benakios Annex as well. The public may purchase or order copies at a fee.

Collection Development

The Library enriches its collections in the following ways :

• through the mandatory deposit concerning all books published in Greece.
  The application of the law is also extended to the National Library and the National Book Center;
• through the purchase of foreign books, periodicals and newspapers;
• through an exchange policy with other libraries, organizations and institutions; and
• through donations.

The computer automation support unit was established in 1994,with the scope to develop a database to include all library material. The system consists of two supermini computers with a large number of terminals and personal computers connected to a local area network. The software is appropriate for parliamentary use and it has been provided by the Technological Institute of the University of Crete, under the name of PTOLEMEOS-II. Untill now we have loaded over 20,000 MARC records in the system.

Preservation of Books and Works of Art

The Library is very much concerned with the preservation of its collections. The preservation of rare books and archival material consist its top priority but the progress made so far has not yet reached a satisfactory level. The relevant department has recently carried out the preservation of one of the two original engravings of the Map of Greece, made by Rigas Velestinlis on1797 which are kept within the Library.

Present Condition

Retrospective cataloguing and classification is in our very immediate plans, the completion of which will offer access to the library's catalogue for every eventual user through Internet. We have checked the possibilities offered by the OCLC services (a presentation took place in 1995 in the Parliament Building) and other ways of approaching the issue, but we came across the problem of the language, the wanting inventory and our inadequate old catalogue cards that present a variety of weaknesses. Furthermore we lack in specialized human resources and trained staff able to support new information techologies.

In 1998, a feasibility study concerning the reorientation and reorganization of the Library has been undertaken by the University of Crete. The study which is user oriented, has been recently completed and presented. In the frame of following up the recent developments in the library field, the Library of the Hellenic Parliament has participated in all IFLA'S conferences and members of its staff, attended various seminars, in Greece and abroad. Last January, it has also been organized together with the University of Crete, a workshop on "New Technologies in Parliamentary Libraries."

Finally, to complete this short presentation of the profile of the Parliamentary Library, I would like to mention, at this point, the activities developed by the Hellenic Parliament following the initiative of its Speaker Mr. Apostolos Kaklamanis, with the objective of strengthening the relationship with the civilians and especially with the children and young people in the fields of culture and history. In view of its participation to the celebration of historical anniversaries, the Parliament organizes at its grounds special exhibitions, invites pupils even from all over the country and abroad and accepts organized visits by civilians. Furthermore enriches school libraries all over the country with publications undertaken by itself, books , CD-Roms and videotapes, all of historical interest.

These activities, that have been enrolled in the educational program of the Parliament, are supported by specialised professors and staff ,and aim mainly to the awakening of the historical memory of the younger, as well as to the strengthening of laws of the democracy. The Library of the Hellenic Parliament participates energetically in the organization and accomplishment of all these activities.