Βασικές γνώσεις για τη χρήση υπολογιστή

The first lesson is often the smallest motion: a hand resting on a mouse, learning that the arrow on the screen answers to the wrist. Basic Knowledge for Computer Use, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, is built for the person who has watched everyone around them tap and swipe and was never shown how — and it begins exactly there, with the parts most courses assume you already own.

The class is run by the National Library of Greece, which moved into its Renzo Piano-designed home at the SNFCC in Kallithea and now folds public education into its work alongside its reading rooms and archives. The workshop runs in the Library's computer room, a teaching space rather than a lecture hall — every participant at a machine, working each step by hand.

You sit beside people who arrived with the same quiet apprehension: adults who never needed a computer at work and now need one to book a doctor's appointment or fill a bank form, retirees closing the gap with their grandchildren, anyone who has decided that 'I'm not good with technology' is a sentence they no longer want to finish. No one here is performing fluency. The pace assumes none.

| Aspect | Details | |--------|---------| | Setting | National Library computer room at the SNFCC | | Vibe | Patient, beginner-paced, hands-on | | Format | Guided practice, one person per machine | | Access | Open admission, phone registration, limited seats |

The session covers the foundations: switching the machine on and finding your way around it, the use of basic programs, navigating the internet, and the small everyday tasks — sending an email, filling in a form, searching for something and trusting the result — that turn a computer from an obstacle into a tool. Instruction is practical and step-by-step; you do each thing yourself rather than watch it done.

If you already manage your files, your inbox and your online banking without a second thought, this room is not for you — it is pitched below that line on purpose. But if a blank screen still tightens your shoulders, this is a place that will not rush you and will not make you feel behind.

The SNFCC sits on the Faliro coast in Kallithea, reachable by tram and bus, with a free shuttle from the city centre; the surrounding Stavros Niarchos Park makes the trip worth it on its own. Attendance is open and free, but seats are limited and assigned in order of registration — you book by calling 216 8091000, daily between 08:30 and 20:00.

A free seat in front of a screen, with someone patient beside you, and only as many seats as the room holds.