Tucked within the sanctified walls of scores of  Greek Orthodox churches are fine, well-stocked parish libraries that cater to a cross section of tastes and sensibilities.

One such facility is held with the highest esteem: The Theodore J. George Library at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore. For years, it has served as a beacon for casual and serious scholars and researchers who often travel long distances to study there. Those craving information feast on a menu that includes Hellenic history, Homeric Greek and poetry.

“I have visited many Orthodox church libraries,” Pascalis Papouras, the chair of the cathedral’s library committee, asserts. “Just about all churches have a library section. And yet the scale of this specific library is staggering!”

But changes are afoot. The Annunciation Library is in the midst of streamlining the collection. The aim of the project, he says, is to reimagine the collection, which numbers around 10,000, to the point where it sports a more definite Greek signature. (The facility is closed until the work is completed.)

Papouras speaks of George with great admiration. “He was instrumental in organizing the volumes and institutionalizing it. We’re faced with a challenge in our current times because fewer and fewer books are being printed or printed in small quantities. We can’t go back to being a lending library in the 1970s.”

Reclassifying, for instance, the collection will reinvigorate the connections among Eastern and Western Christian seminaries and others engaged in advanced education. The effort has two basic goals. “We’re preserving material for future generations and [revising] the process of educating these people for what’s in those books.”

Papouras and his small staff of volunteers rely on a systematized method of classification. “We had a choice to either go with the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress, and we opted for the Library of Congress,” he says, “because of the nature of our collection.” However, the changes in no way reflect a distaste for classic, secular fiction that, for years, occupied shelf space there. “Nobody can deny the literary value of Charles Dickens. But we are an Orthodox church library. It’s always easy to track down popular fiction “at bookstores, new or used,” he adds.

The library was organized by the late Theodore J. George, a Balimore native and public-school educator. “Much of the foundation for the library occurred before I was born,” he explains. “Essentially, a group of intellectuals who would get together to have a book club.” Whenever a new book was ordered for the group to read, an extra copy was purchased. As the collection expanded, “we set aside a special area for the library.”

He is awed by what George built. “Certainly, it’s intimidating taking up the mantle of the vision of a great intellect,” he maintains. “He is one of the great renaissance men who had great curiosity and the will to establish a lasting institution.”

Papouras, 50, a Cleveland native who holds a Master’s in Classical Humanities, enjoys the more refreshing pace of Baltimore. The roster of local enticements include museums and world-class institutions like The Johns Hopkins University.

Inspired by the 20 years he spent working on the front lines for International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), Papouras forever gives God credit for the gifts he  showered on him.

“I always felt blessed,” he declares passionately, “and it was always my desire to share my blessings with others. Greeks come from a very supportive tribal community that passionately believes in ‘philotimo’.”

As the intergenerational obsession with E-Readers like Kindle intensifies, Papouras remains unapologetically devoted to how he absorbs and interprets  language. “I greatly prefer print because of its permanence. In my opinion, heaven only has leather bound hardbacks.”