SPEECHES

Ambassador John Campbell’s
Remarks
Opening of the Sokoto American Corner

Date: February 5, 2007, 11:00 a.m.
Venue: Sokoto

Protocols.

It is an honor and pleasure to be here today to open this American Corner in the state of Sokoto.

The American government has established over three hundred American Corners around the world.

American Corners serve as a window into the richness and diversity of American life and culture, build bridges of communication and understanding, and establish partnerships with libraries and educational institutions and the people they serve.

In this American Corner you can read about America, find out how to study in the US, watch videos about American history and culture, learn about famous American men and women, explore new ideas, find out about how our government works, how our laws are made and policies shaped, and even find a book to read to your brothers and sisters.

This American Corner will serve as common ground for Americans and Nigerians to engage, communicate, and learn from each other.

It houses a collection of books and multimedia materials that are a gift to the people of Sokoto from the American people.

The American Corner in Sokoto represents our common quest for knowledge, for engagement with people and cultures outside our own communities, for exploring new ways of thinking and perceiving and learning about others.

It also represents an important part of American history: open access to education and knowledge for everyone, for men, for women, for children, for our elderly, for immigrants, and for visitors and guests.

It represents our common desire to grow and develop as human beings, and to help develop the communities and societies in which we live.

Libraries have long played an important role in American life.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the drafters of our Declaration of Independence, founded one of the first public libraries in 1731 in Philadelphia.

The success of this library encouraged the opening of libraries in other American cities, just as we now open this library in your city.

Thomas Jefferson, who also helped write the Declaration of Independence and who later became the third president of the United States, was a great collector of books.

When the British invaded Washington D.C. during the War of 1812 and burned our Capitol building, they also burned the three thousand books in our Library of Congress, which was then housed in the Capitol.

Jefferson, who had taken a strong interest in the first Library of Congress while president, sold his private collection of 6,500 volumes to Congress to help restart the Library.

Today the Library of Congress collects materials from all over the world and is open for all to use.

An early 20th century industrialist and philanthropist named Andrew Carnegie gave his own money to establish almost three thousand free public libraries around the world.

In America, one of the most important functions of the Carnegie libraries was to help teach English to the millions of immigrants who came to America, a role public libraries still fulfill today.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has donated millions of dollars to help libraries and individuals improve themselves by investing in information technology.

First Lady of the United States Laura Bush, herself a librarian, has this to say about libraries, “Libraries are community treasure chests, loaded with a wealth of information available to everyone equally.”

Although this American Corner is modest in size, it is big in ideas.

American Poet Laureate Rita Dove said, “My childhood library was small enough not to be intimidating.  And yet I felt the whole world was contained in those two rooms.  I could walk an aisle and smell wisdom.”

I want to thank His Excellency Alhaji A.D. Bafarawa, The Executive Governor of Sokoto State, for joining us today in commissioning and accepting this American Corner in Sokoto.

But most of all I want to thank all of you for joining with me today to commission this American Corner.

Thank you!