The first serious attempt to create and operate a library, as we understand it today, was made by the Rethymnon Educational Association, which was founded in 1887 and marked a more than thirty-year trajectory with significant public benefit, in the fields of education and culture in general.

The Library of F.S.R. numbered approximately 3000 volumes, which included part of the library of Bishop Ioannikios, mentioned above, as well as approximately 700 volumes donated to the “Community of the City of Rethymno” by the Rethymno eupatridis Emmanuel Vyvilakis. After the dissolution of F.S.R., at the end of the 1910s, the books became the property of the Library of the Municipality of Rethymno, which in practice never functioned, since the books remained stored until 1946, when the Spiritual Home was founded Rethymno.

This association was established for the promotion of culture and the creation of a library in Rethymno. Founders and members of the first Board of Directors were: Polybios Tsakonas, lawyer (President), Kostas Antonakis, lawyer, Ioannis Dalentzas, writer, Dimitrios Dafermos, professor, Evangelos Drandakis, lawyer, Nik. V. Drandakis, professor, Vasilios Kalaitzakis, newspaper editor, Kostas Kalokyris, professor, Georgios Tsouderos, doctor and Emmanuel Fragiadakis, doctor.

The books of the Municipal Library, i.e. the Philekpediatiko Synlogos, which were saved after many years of storage, formed the core of the library of the Spiritual Home. The library was housed in a room of the ruined building of the old Girls’ School, which was repaired for this purpose, that is, in the same building that houses the Library of Rethymnon to this day. At the same time, appeals were made by the local press for the offer of books and dozens of letters were sent to individuals and organizations. The response from the public was overwhelming and resulted in the library starting operations with a satisfactory number of books.

Because the Spiritual Center did not have the required financial capabilities to maintain the library, efforts began to have the state take over the burden of operating costs. These efforts bore fruit in 1953, when it became Public and came under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.

From 1953 to 1966 the Public Library of Rethymno operated under very difficult conditions, with only one employee, Markos Giubakis, who literally dedicated his life to its progress and development, for thirty consecutive years until his untimely death in 1976.

In 1972 it was designated as Central and was equipped with two bookmobiles (mobile libraries), which from then until recently brought the book even to the most remote and isolated villages of Crete.

In the more than sixty years of its operation, the Public Library of Rethymno has seen great growth. Today its collections reach 200,000 volumes of books, to which must be added about 10,000 volumes of magazines, as well as a rich archive of local and Athenian newspapers. It serves around 30,000 users every year, while its lending department, which has 13,000 active members, makes over 27,000 loans a year. As a general library, it is addressed to the entire population – after all, this can be seen from the composition of the public that uses it – which, according to the statistics kept by the library, is as follows:

           Students of all grades 40%,

           Students 15% and

           Individuals 45%.

An obstacle to the further development of the library was the lack of a suitable roof. The building that houses it is unsuitable due to its age, but also completely inadequate in terms of space. Long-term efforts to solve the problem brought the expected result.