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Newsletter of the American Centers & Corners Association (Moscow, Russia)
Posted on January 1, 2004

By   Slavyana Sagakyan

Irina Kuznetsova (3rd from left) and her group of librarians during their visit to Virginia and Washington DC

Ten American Corner Directors were tapped as guides for the Library of Congress’ Russian Leadership Program which brought another forty Russian librarians to the United States in December. For ten days the librarians intensely studied various American libraries in locations as diverse as Hillsdale, Michigan, and Honolulu, Hawaii; while the AC directors facilitated the visits and added to their own professional development inasmuch as they met outstanding American and Russian colleagues and explored the libraries themselves.

Honolulu hosted a group of library specialists who work in libraries
for the blind in Russia. “We visited many specialized libraries there,” said Irina Novikova, Library Manager of the American Center in Nizhni-Novgorod and facilitator for the group, “and all librarians noticed that libraries for the blind in the USA are much better equipped than in Russia. No doubt they were impressed with the beautiful nature of Hawaii as well.”

Olga Lisitsyna, Director of the American Corner in Arkhangelsk, shared the very warm impression that her group of children’s library managers got in Hillsdale, Michigan. “The Russian librarians were not eager to go to a small town, but once we got there they changed their minds. The professional program was just perfect! So was the hospitality of our American colleagues. We visited school libraries, public libraries and libraries for children with special needs.”

Irina Kuznetsova, Director of the American Corner in Samara, facilitated the trip for a group of librarians from cultural institutions. She took them to Arlington, Virginia, and Washington DC where they visited public and school libraries, the library of the Smithsonian Institute, and the library of the George Washington Memorial. “The Russian group asked many questions about preserving and storing rare books, and about storing audio and video collections. They paid the closest attention to the folk festival organized by the Smithsonian Institute. We can use their experience in our own libraries.”

[Reprinted with Permission]