Empower Athens' Displaced people through community

Hello dear friend of WNB,

Greetings from Kypseli, Athens. As the long hot summer is coming to an end, we are thrilled to share some exciting updates highlighting our ongoing commitment to the mission of We Need Books:

“Enrich lives and empower communities by providing free and equal access to information, knowledge, and services; foster social inclusion and promote multiculturalism in a safe and welcoming environment.”

The summer we had the opportunity to share our, vision, mission, and values with a group of 14 librarians from Italy who came to the WNB Multilingual Library and Community Center for a four-day training workshop. Our Italian colleagues  were part of a European program run by Equilibri, a Modena-based organization which coordinates a large network of Italian (and not only) public libraries with the aim to enhance the professional and cultural skills of library staff. The theme of the workshop was “creating a multicultural community of library users” and focusing on:
1. The process of transforming libraries into places of community hubs and lifelong learning
2. Increase activities of inclusivity for socially marginalized groups

It was an incredibly satisfying experience for the participants and the WNB staff. In the words of one of the participants “It reinforced my conviction of the need of community libraries in an increasingly multicultural and mobile society". Reflecting on the four days of learning and sharing, we cannot help but feel pride for what WNB has achieved. And where we are now, we did it together. It’s your support and generosity for the WNB Multilingual Library that has made this possible. Our unwavering commitment is to empower Athen’s displaced people through community. We have developed best practices and a paradigm of how the WNB project can be implemented in other communities, cities, and counties.

“Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.” R. David Lankes

Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards and gratitude

Margarita Sianou

International Relations & Donor Development