WHAT
WE DO
Multilingual Library & Multicultural Center
About the space
We opened Athens’ first multilingual library in the vibrant and diverse Kypseli in November 2019. We are a reading and lending library working towards creating a society free of discrimination by ensuring free access to knowledge through a space that encourages communication, imagination and joy. We develop and implement innovative workshops that empower the most vulnerable to overcome obstacles that keep them on the fringes of society. We raise awareness on equality, solidarity and the protection of human rights. We promote multiculturalism and empathy in the daily lives of the people of Athens. We are here to stay.
7 Evias St, Kypseli, 113 62, Athens
work from here!
Come alone with your laptop, or with your team to have meetings! Enjoy a free tea or coffee and see how much more you will be able to get done when you work from an inspiring and beautiful space! On warm days, our lovely garden awaits you!
Free Wifi
Meeting Room Access
Free Tea & Coffee
come with your kids!
The library has a children’s section designed to satisfy a toddler’s endless curiosity, ignite a child’s imagination and draw youngsters to the exciting world of teen literature! There are toys for the little ones and board games for older children. There are high chairs available for feeding breaks.
Child Friendly Space
High Chair Available
RENT OUT THE SPACE
Our library and garden are available to rent out for your special events! We house a collaborative space to host workshops, book signings, and other activities requiring a scenic environment. Contact us for more details on renting our space!
Back Garden Seating
Scenic Collaborative Space
Our current projects
Please visit our facebook page for the latest updates.
Our current projects
Please visit our facebook page for the latest updates.
After school tutoring program
EDUCATION
In response to the educational crisis caused by COVID 19 We Need Books has designed an after school tutoring program to support primary school children living locally in their academic efforts, in an inclusive environment that promotes teamwork and collaboration.
Eupheme
SOCIAL INCLUSION
EUPHEME is an Erasmus+ project with three objectives: to question the notion of “welcoming” through a survey and storytelling system, to equip the people responsible for receiving migrants through the creation and provision of an educational kit consisting of an interactive site and a printed tool, and to help and train reception staff to develop skills and approaches that are more open to interculturality and linguistic diversity. Led by Migrilude, it is conducted in collaboration with APAM, the Association for the Promotion and Advancement of Plurilingualism in France, Welcome Home International in Belgium, We Need Books in Greece. The project runs from September 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024.
CHARMMS
Workshops
CHARMMS: challenging refugee and migrant media stereotypes contributes in fighting against stereotypes that follow refugees and migrants in the media and entertainment industry, through innovative workshops that have been designed in collaboration with the Norwegian organisation NorSensus Mediaforum, which specializes in issues of media literacy. The project is funded by the Active Citizens Fund.
Our past projects
Our past projects
Life is Elsewhere
Art exhibition
Literature & Empathy as Tools for Social Inclusion
Panel Discussion
Book & Play
LIBRARY
From October 2018 to May 2019 We Need Books participated in the Municipality of Athens’ pilot programme Polis 2. During this time we operated a multilingual library in Plateia Theatrou, one of the city’s most run down areas. It was entirely run by volunteers and through the various cultural events it organised it brought together people of all backgrounds. It offered a collection of over 3,500 books in over 14 languages for children and adults, creative workshops for children ages 2 – 17 and language lessons in Greek, English and German.
Caritas & Schisto
Libraries
We Need Books created a library with over 1,000 in Arabic, Farsi, Greek and English in a shelter for single parent asylum seeking families in Athens. It also provided over 300 books in Farsi to the refugee camp in Schisto so that a library could be set up in collaboration with the coordinators for education in the camp.
