June 29, 2005

Presentation of Books

Remarks by Ambassador Klosson
University of Cyprus

Rector Zenios,

Director Tsimpoglou,

Distinguished faculty and guests.

It is a pleasure to be here at the University of Cyprus. I am pleased to participate in this presentation of books by American writers. The collection includes books on American Art, Writers on America, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Library of America, Reference and Librarianship books.

First, I’d like to extend my sincere appreciation to Dr. Stavros Zenios, the University Rector, and Mr. Philippos Tsimpoglou, the Library Director, as well as library and university staff, for being the kind hosts of this books collection. This project would not have been possible without their help and support.

Of course this is one of many areas of cooperation between the Embassy and the university, where our relationship has been excellent. Not only do we have a good relationship with the administration, but we also have regular contact and collaboration with university departments relevant to our activities. In November 2003, we arranged for the visit of a Senior Fulbright Specialist, Professor Jonathan Auerbach from the English Department of the University of Maryland, who visited Cyprus for two weeks and advised university officials on the establishment of an American Studies program. As a follow-up of that visit, we expect to bring to Cyprus two Fulbright Professors to work with university faculty for an extended period on the possible establishment of a program in American Studies.

Furthermore, we have periodically financed speakers to do programs at the University of Cyprus, the latest being Professor Katharine Gebbie, Director of the Physics Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who was a keynote speaker in the framework of the Year of Physics-2005 just a few weeks ago. During my time, at least three Embassy officers have spoken to different university classes as part of the Embassy Outreach program. It is a strong, healthy relationship, and I’m sure this effort today will make it even stronger.

I hope that this collection of books and audiovisual material will prove to be useful and will give the opportunity to students, faculty members, and all the others who have access to this library information on the political, economic, cultural, educational, and social aspects of life in the United States. The overarching goals are to provide information on the U.S., present an insight into American art, film, science, culture and education, and thus forge a lasting relationship between the people of Cyprus and the American people.

Four hundred titles are currently available for the visitors, including books, videos, multimedia CD ROMs. These titles include a collection on the writings of the Founding Fathers of America and a collection of books on American Art, as well as a carefully chosen hard copy literature selection. The selection of the University of Cyprus Library for the donation of these books is very appropriate: It serves the local community through information dissemination, as a research center, and most of all as an education center.

We hope that the book collection will serve as an intellectual asset to the University and other interested groups, students, faculty, townspeople, NGOs, the media and the business community. We certainly hope that it will contribute to building knowledge of the United States for all. Ultimately, its success will depend on the participation and support of the users. I am delighted to see you, as potential users, here today. Thank you.