Athens Comics Library and Refugee Week presents the preliminary findings of the pilot program Libraries on Prescription, a social prescribing program for people who need support with their mental health, are lonely or isolated, belong to minorities or vulnerable groups, have complex social needs that affect their well-being, or have mental disorders created by the agony and impact of the Covid19 pandemic.
Can libraries be therapeutic? The answer is yes! Stories have the ability to change us emotionally, socially, behaviorally and psychologically. When stories use words and images together, in book form, then their healing power is magnified. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need to find creative ways to engage our community and engage those around us in mental health and wellbeing.
Now more than ever people have stories and personal experiences to share, characters they want to relate to, and safe spaces to do so. We believe that a library could be such a place of safety and for dealing with mental health.
So what if instead of conventional drugs that help fight mental illness someone prescribed you a visit to a library? The Athens Comics Library in collaboration with Refugee Week Greece was chosen by the European Cultural Foundation as part of the Europe Challenge 2022 to design and develop a pilot program, which aims to highlight the healing power of stories and libraries as safe healing spaces.
Within the framework of this Program, we collaborate with the Society for Regional Development and Mental Health (EPAPSY).
