For the libraries of Heaven: in memory of Evi Laskari, Director of the Central Public Library of Corfu

Citation

Banou, C. and Kostagiolas, P.A. (2009), "For the libraries of Heaven: in memory of Evi Laskari, Director of the Central Public Library of Corfu", Library Management, Vol. 30 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.2009.01530daa.002

For the libraries of Heaven: in memory of Evi Laskari, Director of the Central Public Library of Corfu

Article Type: In memoriam From: Library Management, Volume 30, Issue 4/5

The Central Public Library of Corfu Island, which is situated in the northwest part of Greece, has become a thriving organization, a landmark public library for Greece and a heritage for the generations to come. This is the only public library in Corfu and the local community looks upon and feels proud of it. It is a profound heritage especially for all those responsible for its present and future development.

On the 19 August 2008, our beloved friend and colleague Evi Laskari, Director of the Central Public Library of Corfu, suddenly passed away. Evi was born in London in 1964 from Greek parents and after a short stay in France, her family moved to Patras, Greece, where she was brought up and graduated from the local high school. She studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and graduated from the University of Athens, Department of History and Archeology in 1987. Books and libraries were always in her heart. Over the last 20 years Evi served with responsibility and dedication in various positions the Central Public Library of Corfu and in 2001 she became the library director. Recently (in 2006), Evi completed an MSc course on Library and Information Science at the Department of Archive and Library Science, Ionian University.

Evi revived the Central Public Library of Corfu (www.libcorfu.gr/). Her passion and dedication was the impetus for change and her achievements transformed the Public Library of Corfu to its current-status. She had a deep love for books, literature, and libraries. Her vision was to bridge the gap between the local community and the library, as she strongly believed that, the library is a place for all, a place where history and innovation, children and adults, myth and reality, technology and tradition, culture and society meet. Evi was present in the library reposition into the renewed and excellent building at the old castle of Corfu in the centre of the old city. She strived to provide access to the library and services for the disabled, to organize the cataloguing and conservation of old and rare books, to develop reading policy through exhibitions and numerous lectures, to provide mobile library services for all those in need (institutionalized children, disabled and elderly people) and to host students of the Ionian University for their practice.

Her colleagues, staff and students of the Ionian University and the people of Corfu respected Evi. Over the last few years she desired to share her knowledge and experience, and participated in our research aims. She produced results that have been presented in national and international conferences and published in the Library Management journal. Unfortunately, that activity was never to be completed. Now, Evi continues to work for the libraries of Heaven … , as Borges said “I always imagined paradise as a kind of library”.

Christina Banou, Petros A. KostagiolasDepartment of Archive and Library Science, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece