speeches
Ambassador Timken
"America @ your library"
Berlin
December 12, 2005
Thank you, Dr. Lux,
Frau Sauer,
Friends of the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek,
Today we embark upon a new initiative with the Berlin Central and Regional Library. It is the affirmation of a partnership between Germany and America that started 51 years ago when the America Memorial Library was officially opened.
The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek was a gift from the American people to the people of Berlin. Berliners were given the opportunity to build a "cultural center" – and they chose to build a library, in the mold of an open stack American public library. Ernst Reuter, the mayor at the time, was the project’s biggest supporter. It was the first library of its kind in Germany and it represented – in the words of the then-Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who attended the ground-stone laying of the library – the freedom to learn, to study, and to search for the truth. That simple description highlights the important role that libraries play in the social, cultural and civic life of communities. Libraries embody our history, our culture, and our collective memory, which is vital to our humanity. Libraries also facilitate the free exchange of information, which is vital to democracy.
Today at the turn of the 21st century, libraries on both sides of the Atlantic are opening new doors to learning, culture, and ideas for their users.
The “At Your Library” slogan is based on a promotional campaign designed by the American Library Association to increase awareness about the value of today's libraries. First Lady Laura Bush, herself a librarian, launched the “At Your Library” campaign in 2001. We’ve added “America” to the “At Your Library” – and that says it all. Whatever the question about America, the answer will be at your library – whether you are a pupil, a student, a teacher, a journalist, or a businessman.
As a businessman, I know that lifelong learning and the ability to apply new knowledge in a changing world is the first, most important thing for career and life success. Good decisions depend on good information.
Through the “America @ your library” initiative, the Embassy is working with libraries around the country to extend the possibilities for cooperation, collaboration and connections between people with like interests on both sides of the Atlantic.
We appreciate the initiative and commitment of the Berlin Central and Regional Library to this new project. We are certain that this library, already a laboratory for best practices and a leader in the international library field, will be an important member of a new network of library partners -- partners that represent the diversity of communities and institutions in this country.
We look forward to working with the twin libraries, East and West, that comprise the Berlin Central and Regional Library, both the Berlin City Library and the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek.
Last week when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Berlin to meet with Chancellor Merkel, she recalled all that the United States and Germany have been through together. Without German-American friendship, Berlin, she said, once the symbol of the Cold War and the division of Europe, would still be a divided city.
And it is people who make all the difference in such a friendship. I would like to thank the people here at the Berlin Central and Regional Library who have taken this new partnership project so to heart – Christine-Dorothea Sauer, Paul Ulrich, Irini Courzakis, Karen Groening and Sabine Walz.
Thank you very much.
