Information Resource Center > Window on America

"Window on America" Centers - A Project of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv developed the Window on America Centers concept to reach out to thousands of alumni spread across Ukraine's regions and to serve as a focal point for U.S. activities for a broad cross-section of the Ukrainian public. Each Center is a partnership between the USG and a Ukrainian public library (the one exception is in Simferopol, where the Window on America Center is at the Crimean Industrial Pedagogical Institute Library). The U.S. Embassy has allocated more than $150,000 to establish the Window on America Centers in libraries throughout Ukraine.

The regional libraries provide the space and English-speaking staff members. The U.S. Government provides the start-up capital to purchase a basic set of books and provide training for the local staff. The libraries also receive a grant for furniture and equipment, including a computer with Internet access, a printer, copy machine, and CD-ROM. Each of the centers is made up of five key information modules about the U.S. government, U.S. reference materials, business, English-language teaching, and education. The centers are designed to provide up-to-date information on the United States and to augment the English-language collections of the host libraries. The Window on America Centers also provide a venue for the embassy's outreach activities, offering a distribution point for IIP publications, a meeting place for USG-program alumni, and a host for photo exhibits, visiting speakers, film series, and other events that promote a better understanding of the U.S.

Although the first Window on America just opened a few months ago, the centers are already showing their potential to get the U.S. message out to a wide range of Ukrainian audiences. In the eastern city of Donetsk, the center has worked with Peace Corps Volunteers to organize seminars on the U.S. Constitution, history, and geography for over 150 participants. In Kirovohrad, the center organized a radio trivia contest on the U.S. to drum up publicity for the official opening.

The opening of the Windows on America Centers has generated a great deal of interest and excitement. In Kirovohrad, for example, the head of the Oblast Administration for Culture described the opening as "a holiday of understanding and knowledge" and thanked the U.S. Embassy for its generous support of the oblast public library. In all four cities, the centers are already proving to be a valuable resource for students and teachers studying English or interested in studying in the United States. Local businesses are also finding the Windows as a good starting point to find potential American partners and investors.