vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #617 / Social life / Reading article...

Since its opening in 2003, a total of 26,000 visits have been made by Vladivostok residents and guests to the city’s American Informational Center (American Corner), which celebrated its birthday Tuesday.

The American Corner in Vladivostok is one of 32 similar centers operating in Russia as part of a partnership between the U.S. Embassy and public libraries around Russia, aiming to provide free information on U.S. history and cultural life, various educational and professional exchange programs to its visitors, as well help in learning English.

The center, which opened in April 2003, has hosted about 300 meetings, lectures, seminars and presentations, the center’s chief coordinator Larisa Filonenko said. The center’s activities also include various educational workshops, film showings and exhibitions.

The center’s birthday celebrations, held in a friendly and warm atmosphere spiced up by a live jazz performance, was attended by the Consul General of the U.S. in Vladivostok Tom Armbruster, representatives of local public organizations and the center’s other partners, as well as the center’s devoted visitors.

During its five years of operation, the center has seen about 26,000 visitors, with an annual increase in guests amounting to 700 people. Currently, the center’s library numbers over 4,000 books and other print and audio-visual sources of information, including fiction, newspapers and magazines, encyclopedias, tests preparation textbooks, as well as various CDs and DVDs.

The visitors include both Vladivostok and Primorye residents – among them are politicians, businessmen, representatives of non-governmental organizations, students, teachers and even pensioners.



According to Larisa Filonenko, during the five years of the center’s activities, the statistics for visitors’ age and occupation has changed. “In the beginning, our visitors were mainly school and university students and teachers, while lately there have been considerably more working people, businessmen and scientists who need English for further promoting their career,” she noticed. Still, Filonenko said, students comprise a large number of the American Corner’s regular visitors.

Highly popular among the center visitors are the monthly presentations featured by American citizens currently residing, working or visiting Vladivostok, with the lecture themes varying from political and social issues to cooking recipes and singing to Hawaiian guitar. Among the speakers who have recently given presentations were Dianne Post, Senior Attorney for Vladivostok’s Office of the American Bar Association, who gave a presentation on human rights and HIV/AIDS, and Radmilla Cody, a Canyon Records recording artist and four-time Native American Award Nominee who continues to maintain Navajo culture.

The evening program, which included a small concert and an exhibition devoted to the history of U.S.-Russia diplomatic relations, also included awards to winners in such categories as ‘The Center’s most devoted reader’, ‘For Contribution to the Center’s Development’ and ‘For Creative Work and Enthusiasm’.