Embassy Events 2009

Internet for Public Libraries in Poland’s Rural Areas

7 August 2009

A cooperation agreement signed at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage in Warsaw on August 6, 2009, launched an Internet Program for public libraries in small towns and villages across Poland.  Developed in close cooperation with the Global Libraries Initiative, a project of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the program provides computer hardware and Internet connection to libraries in rural areas.  Statistics show that in Poland, nearly 40 percent of the 8,500 public libraries don’t have access to the Internet, an indispensable communication tool in today’s society. The Polish-American Freedom Foundation was actively involved in the program together with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, the Book Institute, the Information Society Development Foundation, and TPSA, Poland’s largest telecommunication company. “One of the most important objectives is to make the library a community center, not just a place to borrow books,” said Andrea McGlinchey, Information Resource Officer for Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw.