Constitution

Aim and Scope

As per the applicable institutional framework, the Hellenic General Council of Libraries (HGCL) is responsible for the Public Libraries which are supervised and supported by the Directorate for Supervision and Human Resources of Legal Persons governed by Public Law, Legal Persons governed by Private Law, and Decentralized Services. The institutional framework of the HGCL is stipulated by article 9 of law 3149/2003 (Government Gazette A/141), article 18 of L. 3687/2008 (Government Gazette A/159), as modified by article 26, par. 13, of L. 3789/2010 (Government Gazette A/163) and article 37 of L. 4415/2016 (Government Gazette A/159).

As formulated with the applicable institutional framework, HGCL aims to study and propose Public Library policy and activities related to the following topics:

  • The modernization and upgrading of the Public Libraries role.
  • The development of collaboration between Public Libraries and all types of libraries.
  • The expansion of their services in order to support activities with significant impact on crucial social aspects, such as education, heath, economy, technology, demographic changes, environment.
  • The development of a unified library system and its interaction with other organizations and user communities.
It also proposes actions related to the legislative framework for the Public Libraries in Greece, such as their Operating Regulation, the creation of new libraries or the expansion of existing libraries.

Current operating framework

According to the new institutional framework for the HGCL which was formulated by article 37 of law 4415/2016 (Government Gazette A/159) in September 2016, HGCL:

  • Focuses on the libraries and their interaction with other institutions with similar objectives.
  • In its majority (7 out of the 9 members), it consists of representatives from institutions either related to libraries or impacts their infrastructure and services.
  • Further develops specialized business plans, in direct cooperation with the National Library of Greece and the Directorate for Supervision and Human Resources of Legal Persons governed by Public Law, Legal Persons governed by Private Law, and Decentralized Services of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs.
  • Interacts with all related communities and supports cooperation with them, by creating specialized workgroups with the participation of community members.
  • Emphasizes the development of specialized library services to support learning.