Ambassador Ashe and Pomorskie Voivodeship Officials Open American Corner in Gdansk

18 July 2008

Ambassador Ashe and Vice-marshal Byczkowski cut the ribbon to officially open the new American Corner  (see more photos)

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe and Pomorskie Voivodeship Vice-marshal Wieslaw Byczkowski cut the ribbon to officially open the new American Corner in Gdansk’s Joseph Conrad Provincial and City Library at 13:30 on July 17. The ribbon cutting took place after a brief ceremony featuring short speeches by library Director Iwona Koperkiewicz, Deputy Director Pawel Braun, Ambassador Ashe, and Vice-Marshal Byczkowski. Invited guests included officials from the voivodeship and the Tri-Cities governments and representatives of local academic, cultural, and other institutions, as well as local media. In his comments, Ambassador Ashe stressed the importance of establishing an American Corner in a city that, as the birth place of Solidarity, symbolizes our shared values of freedom and democracy.

American Corners could be thought of as small libraries located inside larger libraries, but they truly are much more than that. They are partnerships between the Public Affairs sections of U.S. Embassies and host institutions. There are over 300 American Corners all over the world. They provide access to current and reliable information about the U.S. via book collections, the Internet, and through a variety of events such as public readings, films, speaker programs, workshops, meetings, and exhibits. An American Corner serves as an information outpost similar to a public library reference service. The multi-media, book and periodical collections are open and accessible. Associated reading or meeting rooms are made available to host program events and activities. In Poland there are now three American Corners located in Łódź, Gdańsk, and Wrocław.

The American Corner in Gdańsk currently consists of two rooms with computers, and a collection of books, videos, and music. When remodeling is completed on the library’s ground floor, a larger third room will be added to the corner, which will serve as a reading room, screening room for films, and hall for lectures, workshops, and other gatherings. Like the American Corners in Łódż and Wrocław, the American Corner in Gdańsk also hosts a small Young Learners Resource Center, offering books and resources such as a die cut machine for English Teachers to prepare materials and lesson plans.