By Giulio | Project co-coordinator
Hello global givers,
Lots have changed since we last wrote to you. As for me, this is actually the first time I am writing to you and first of all I want to thank you for all your support so far.
Let's start from the end. After a 6-month lockdown, we are finally back on the road! On May 17, we restarted our library sessions in Attica's refugee camps. Now we have an almost full timetable with 7 sessions per week: as far West as Corinthos, as far North as Oinofyta, as far South as Lavrio.
The library has never been completely still though. Over the past months, we adapted to the situation in many different ways. We supported our comrades at Khora Social Kitchen, turning our library van into a delivery van for food packets and meals; we went for market runs and participated in the no-food-waste initiative promoted by Μπορουμε (We can) at Athens' local farmers markets. Since February, we also started running one library session per week during meals distribution at Khora Social Kitchen.
Renè, our shiny new library van from France, has taken over from the experienced Gary, who is now getting ready for retirement. Throughout the end of winter and the beginning of spring, we finished building the new van interiors, built new furniture and finally filled the shelves of Renè with as many books as possible ---> The Great Book Swap of 2021
Also the Team at the ECHO Library has changed. After 3 years, our lovely project coordinator Keira has left ECHO, for new and exciting adventures. She will be sorely missed, and we wish her the best of luck with what comes next. To replace a great woman we decided to expand the team, and now we have two new project co-coordinators: Azim and me, Giulio.
A FEW WORDS ON THE GENERAL SITUATION:
Following the Greek and European policies of the past 2 years, access at camps for our library sessions is limited. 'Lockdown' has a very different meaning for people forced to live in undignified conditions, behind walls, fences and razor-wire. Combative as usual, we will keep fighting for accessing camps and providing the best service for our readers and users. Camps are the biggest barrier to any form of integration and – simply – should not exist.
AND SOME NUMBERS FOR 2021 so far:
Sessions held: 24
Books loaned: 335
Books returned: 193
Language resources distributed:825+
Links:
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