AUTHOR: MARIA CHRONOPOULOU | PHOTOGRAPHY: VASILIS KOUROUPIS
– How was the Athens Comics Library created?
– It was something we always had in mind. Personally, I was very jealous when I visited other countries with great comics libraries where people could go and read. So, on the one hand, there is pure jealousy. On the other hand, there is the fact that, since 2008, as Comicdom Press, we have run a lot of educational workshops, promoting the use of comics as a tool in schools, libraries, museums and other organizations. Through this connection, we recognized that there was a huge need not only among teachers, but also among pupils from young kids to adolescents, to connect with their creative side. Therefore, by gauging our influence in the educational community, and also recognizing that the Comicdom Athens Festival, which is our main activity, was constantly getting bigger, we thought that it was time to create a place for all those people who lost touch after their first meeting. Thus, 10 years after our first festival, we thought, “Shouldn’t we start doing this as well?”.
– Not bad at all. How did the collaboration with Impact Hub come up?
– It was great that Impact Hub was very open to collaboration with us, which is how we solved the space issue. We didn’t just solve it by finding a really nice place, but by making sure it belonged to the community because we weren’t interested in creating a library that was cut off and isolated. By considering examples of successful libraries abroad, we realized that it was the ones that belonged to a community whose performance and productivity were the best.
– When was Athens Comics Library launched?
– In February 2015. It was a hard process because the whole endeavour started with no budget and everything happened due to fundraising. The whole thing, the collection that we bought, the furniture, the space’s operational expenses, the technical equipment, even the hiring we did, it was all with fundraising.
– Through a fundraising platform?
– No, with personal fundraising and good partnerships. We started with sponsorship from ION and SoComic for the purchase of the main collection, and with a swap collaboration with IKEA for the furnishings. In IKEA stores, we organized workshops for the customers’ children and we were paid in kind. In addition, the US Embassy helped us from the very beginning by providing us with equipment and communication support.
– What exactly do you do?
– In general, we use comics not simply as a medium by which someone is able to tell a story more easily, but mainly as a stimulus with which you can acquire more information and knowledge and, at the same time, cultivate your social skills.
– To whom are your workshops addressed?
– We have different workshops, which are targeted at people of different ages, from preschool children to adults. Moreover, we deliver many workshops to educators on how they can use comics in the classroom and basically talk about difficult subjects. In general, all the workshops are very revealing. We always obtain both creative material and material that requires substantial analysis, from the educator and from the parent likewise. In a workshop we delivered in 2009-2010, for example, the economic crisis was somehow in each of the stories that the kids were writing. This was without anyone directing the children, “Make a comic about the economic crisis”. Because that’s the environment they are growing up in.
– How exactly are you using the comics in the workshops you are organizing?
– We use a lot of comic characters. For example, in order to talk about leadership, we use Xavier from the X-Men a lot in order to show how you can become a motivated leader. After that, we put the workshop attendees in Xavier’s position, asking them to manage a team with very different and distinguished traits. We also apply the “what if” approach that comics use, while challenging and asking them to change things.
– Are there any other references that you always have in mind? Do you start from a specific base or is it something more spontaneous?
– It depends on the topic you want to talk about. However, we definitely use comics, such as Maus by Spiegelman, Palestine by Sacco, Photographer by Guibert or something a bit more “infantile”, like Bone by Jeff Smith, as a reference base for the educators. Bone is a really interesting educational tool because it is basically an epic tale with a lot of other references. One of the main characters loves Moby Dick very much. So, as a result, a lot of the kids want to find out who this Moby Dick is. And suddenly they start reading literature. At the same time, it is amazing to see children reading a huge volume in one week!
– Are English and Greek the only languages that someone can find in the comics, or do you have comics in other languages as well?
– This is a side project that we try to do. We include comics from countries all over the world. We try, in general, due to the library’s location, where there is a lot of tourism, to have comics that someone who is passing by can read in his/her native language.
– How can someone borrow a comic?
– There are the following models. In order to be able to borrow a comic, someone needs to become a member, similar to video clubs in the past. So, he/she needs to come here with an electricity or phone bill, his/her ID etc. and pay a fee of 50 euros for six months or 80 euros for a year in order to borrow five comics for a two-week period, or 600 euros if he/she wants to become a lifetime member. For someone who just wants to read, there’s a day pass, which costs two euros and, for this, he/she can stay and read without any time limits.
– Can he/she take it outside the library?
– If he/she is a member, yes. If not, he/she can only read it in our space.
– If someone would like to support you, how can he/she do so?
– By becoming a member of the library, which I think is very important.
– What if someone comes from abroad to visit you?
– He/she needs to visit athenscomicslibrary.gr, check which hours the library is open and most definitely visit us!