The Bookmarkers visited schools and cultural organizations in Xanthi, donating books and equipment, and promoting a love of reading.
With the goal of promoting a love of reading and fostering vibrant learning communities, the Bookmarkers visited Xanthi on June 17, 2026, conducting a series of visits to schools and cultural organizations in the region. As part of the initiative, literary books, computers, and educational equipment, while highlighting important initiatives that link books to education, culture, and social cohesion.
School Libraries – Vibrant Hubs of Knowledge
The first stop was the Sminthis Junior High School, following a request from the school. The Bookmarkers delivered literary books to enrich the school library and a computer, recognizing the crucial role the library plays for students in the area.
The school is located in the mountainous region of Xanthi, in the Municipality of Myki, and serves exclusively students from the Muslim minority, with a strong emphasis on bilingualism and the daily use of the Pomak dialect. In an area where there is no public library, the school library serves as the students’ primary gateway to the world of books.
Despite limited resources, the school community has created a remarkable library featuring works of classical and contemporary literature, history, mythology, the arts, and poetry. The library operates year-round with active student participation and reading promotion programs, and this year the students even went so far as to publish a fairy tale in Braille.
The school is developing a significant outreach through student conferences, publications, book presentations, and collaborations with the Democritus University of Thrace and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. At the same time, it operates a folklore museum with a guided tour system using QR codes and is planning to create a tobacco museum.
The discussion was moderated by the chair of the Bookmarkers Scientific Committee, Nikos A. Koukis and the school principal Zina Matsoudi, in the presence of teachers and students, who had the opportunity to explore the new books and exchange views on the joy of reading.
Afterward, the Bookmarkers visited the 3rd Junior High School of Xanthi “Melpo Merlier”, where they donated fiction books, a computer, and a whiteboard to further upgrade the school library.
The school’s student lending library, which opened in 2021, is the result of many years of effort by teachers, students, parents, and alumni. Starting with donations as early as 1978, it now has approximately 800 book titles, digitally cataloged, coveringcover a wide range of subject areas.
During the visit, an interactive discussion took place between the president of the Bookmarkers, the school principal Alexandros Dimaras, representatives of the Teachers’ Association, and students who are actively involved in running the library. The common goal is to extend lending services to high school students and, in a second phase, to transform it into an open “neighborhood library”.
Particularly moving were the students’ testimonials, in which they reported that their engagement with books helped them become more responsible and creative and developa deeper connection with knowledge.
From scholarships to “poetry restaurants”
The administrations and the educational communities of the two schools expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Bookmarkers for their support of the school libraries, as well as to the initiator of the initiative, founding member and legal representative of the non-profit organization, former Secretary-General to the Prime Minister, Grigoris Dimitriadis, whose contribution made this donation possible.
As noted during the visits, practical support for initiatives that enhance young people’s access to books and knowledge is of particular importance, especially in school communities that, despite the difficulties, are developing remarkable cultural and educational initiatives.
The visit to Xanthi continued at the Eupatridion Foundation of Emmanouil and Evangelia Dimitrakis, an organization that invests in education, social cohesion, and culture by supporting research, scholarships, and innovative educational initiatives.
The Foundation hosts experiential programs for children, reading promotion storytelling, and theater, and features exhibits such as a LEGO recreation of the Antikythera Mechanism, the Playmobil Diorama Museum, the “City of Karagiozis,” and photography and visual arts exhibitions, all while utilizing modern technologies such as NFC and QR codes. At the same time, it is moving forward with the implementation of new scholarship programs for master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral studies.
The final stop was the award-winning Bookstore 2 owned by Thanasis Athanasiadis and Mavroudis Koutsouras, which has emerged as one of the country’s most important independent bookstores, as well as the space run by Vasiliki Strouli, who has created a unique workshop for reading and creative expression in Xanthi.
Through innovative initiatives that treat the book as a tool for fostering active citizens, as well as through the unique “poetry restaurants”, where visitors “order” authors and “pay” with texts, a different approach to reading and participation in culture is highlighted.
During the visits, prospects for future collaborations were discussed, confirming that a love of reading is a collective endeavor and that communities that invest in books are simultaneously investing in knowledge, creativity, and the future.
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