The famous School of Milies, one of the first institutions of higher education ever to operate in Greece during the Turkish occupation, was founded in 1814 by three well known Meliotes scholars, clerics and supporters of the ideals of the European Enlightenment: Anthimos Gazis, Grigorios Konstantas and Daniel Philippides. With the financial support of Greeks residing abroad, the school was equipped with books, maps and various teaching aids, according to the standards of the European academic institutions. The School of Milies was soon to become renowned for its high standard of teaching and for its extensive collection of books. In its heyday the School's library numbered more than 10.000 volumes. The school operated till the outbreak of the Greek Revolution in 1821.During that time it suffered severe damage and lots of books, maps and scientific instruments were lost. However Konstantas reopened the school in 1834. His death in 1844 marked the end of its operation as an institution of higher education.

In 1928, the remaining books and school relics were to be housed in a new building opposite the village square, known today as the Library of Milies, which was founded thanks to a donation made by Mrs Kristalia Oikonamaki. The Library of Milies became a public one in 1955. In 1974 the building was renovated to its present state by the Miliote architect Argiris Philipiddes. Nowadays the Library of Milies runs both a historical and a modern lending section. In the historical section are to be found 1658 titles of books printed between 1497 and 1899, and 19 registers. Along with later editions and multiple copies, the collection of old books kept in the Library counts about 3.500 volumes in total. In addition to printed books, there are also 116 hand- written books mostly of the 18th century, as well as sheets from codices of the 10th, 11th and 12th century and approximately 1000 loose documents from the village and school archives. Moreover there are in display scientific instruments and personal belongings of the school's founders. The modern lending section has at present more than 13.000 titles and periodicals and its collection is always expanding. At present, the library is part of a growing library network and its material is being digitalized. Since 2003 the Library of Milies is taking part in a program for the promotion of new technologies in reference to culture and education. To that end a contemporary and well equipped Public Information Center is presently running in a library section also accessible to handicapped people. This center aims to offer to its users' free and immediate access to internet as well as the opportunity of using various educational materials in electronic form.

© 2006 Katerina Anagnostou - Viki Tsirgoula, for the PUBLIC LIBRARY OF MILIES