By Markos Savvidis Kyriacou ~
DHEKELIA, CYPRUS (SOVEREIGN BASE AREA) — In its simplest terms, Dhekelia cantonment contains a quiet revolution: library rooms opening arms wide to British serving families, to Cypriot neighbours and visiting friends everywhere in the world. These libraries—established in schools, community halls, and joint culture centres—become beacons of the age, casting their lamp of knowledge and bridges spanning generations and culture.
“Not only is our library book-focused—it’s a community center, where books unite people,” says a Dhekelia Primary School librarian.
Shelves Across Borders
The Dhekelia Primary School is the hub of school life in Dhekelia, famous for well-stocked and well-equipped community room and library to provide facilities for reading time, bilingual book clubs, and author visits. British and local Cypriot community lessons are mixed together to go and participate as an activity in a bookselling campaign to become friends.
More locally, King Richard and St. John’s round out the picture: Defence Ministry school libraries both host cross-campus book fairs, student-funded reading programs, and literature exchange—bilingual defence children, and integrated indigenous Cypriot children.
Digital Discovery & Shared Heritage
Dhekelia libraries venture into e-frontiers as well. E-readers and tablets enable intergenerational bridging to allow the older generation to read stories about the lives of their forefathers and children to access books from anywhere in the world—via school internet and augmented by base-area internet. Oral history and digital storytelling sessions provided in community centers preserve Cypriot legends and teach basic tech skills.
Language, Learning, and Cultural Fluency
Periodic “Language Lattes” at the Dhekelia library provide native Greek, English, and Turkish speakers an opportunity to meet and exchange storytime for coffee. Unstructured meetings foster language ability and intercultural skill and signal multicultural diversity in surrounding communities such as Pyla, a Turkish and a Greek Cypriot village.
Beyond Dewey: Mentoring & Makerspaces
Dhekelia libraries are more than books. Maker spaces include after-school STEM clubs, where students work together on coding, robotics, and 3D printing—developing problem-solving skills along with building cross-cultural relationships. Veteran volunteers supplementing these activities cement the reciprocal interdependence of interest and cross-generational mentorship.
Libraries as Community Anchors
Libraries in these locations are venues for panel forums, movie screenings, and children’s festivals. Thriving on lectures about newly unearthed Bronze Age tombs, or Ramadan/Holi festivities, library buildings in Dhekelia also have a loftier mission: libraries as community driver and cultural hub.
As Dhekelia expands, longer library operating hours and mobile library service to nearby Cypriot villages are planned, along with more intensive adult computer training. These can be taken even further to community integration—Dhekelia’s greatest strength.
In a world where the world is so desperately divided on lines, Dhekelia’s libraries are not.so warm ray of knowledge which bridges across traditional lines in books, technology, and culture.
Sources:
- Dhekelia Primary School facilities (library, community room) gov.uk
- King Richard School & St John’s School reading programs events.dekalblibrary.org+3en.wikipedia.org+3en.wikipedia.org+3
- Pyla village multicultural context en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org+6
- Archaeological events on base (Bronze Age discoveries) en.wikipedia.org+14archaeologymag.com+14gov.uk+14
- SBA habitat and cultural integration referencing environmental value www3.nd.edu+1researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk+1
