ISLAMABAD: United States Embassy Islamabad’s Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, Raymond Castillo, and Vice Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) Dr Saima Hamid joined faculty and students to celebrate the opening of the newly-renovated and expanded Susan B. Anthony Reading Room, a Lincoln Corner at the university in Rawalpindi.

Castillo and Dr Hamid also signed a new memorandum of understanding for managing the Lincoln Corner. Established in 2008, the Lincoln Corner at FJWU is one of the first in Pakistan.

In his remarks, Castillo said, “The Susan B Anthony Reading Room is an exceptional resource for young female leaders seeking to build their networks, hone their cross-cultural skills, and deepen their relationship with the United States and the American people. Lincoln Corners connect Pakistani youth and emerging leaders to the United States through educational programmes and collections of resources related to American culture, history, and international relations.” “As we celebrate 75 years of US-Pakistan relations, our Lincoln Corners in Pakistan contribute to growing our people-to-people ties, bringing Pakistanis and Americans together, and providing access to educational resources and information,” he said.

He added the state-of-the-art Lincoln Corner at FJWU, located in the campus administration building, includes a Maker Space with a 3-D printer and virtual reality headsets, a comprehensive collection of books, periodicals, and digital information resources, and an Americana-themed public events space. The expansion more than quadruples the size of the space and provides increased access to technology, magazines, scholarly databases, and books for students and researchers, he added.

He said the Susan B Anthony Reading Room is part of a network of 19 American Spaces across Pakistan and more than 600 across the world.

In Pakistan, he added that those Spaces were partnerships between the US Mission to Pakistan and eminent Pakistani institutes of education and culture.

He added that the Lincoln Corners were event spaces and resource centres that connect young leaders with the United States.

Online and in-person programmes were free and open to the public, a tangible symbol of the strength and breadth of US-Pakistan relations, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022