This month, the United States Information Agency began an 18-month, $1.5-million program to restore libraries and build Internet centers throughout war-torn Kosovo.
The Kosovo Information Assistance Initiative includes plans to revitalize the National and University Library, the Bibliothèque Sulejmani, and the Public Library in the capital city of Pristina. A shipment of $750,000 worth of books was scheduled for September 13, donated by the Brother’s Brother Foundation of Pittsburgh, the Sabre Foundation, IDG Books Worldwide, and USIA offices.
Computers, printers, and other technology are headed for Internet centers in six cities, Nancy Ozeas, chief of staff of USIA’s Information Bureau, told American Libraries. The centers will form the foundation of a massive reconstruction effort for Kosovo’s information infrastructure. Development proposals from several U.S.-based telecommunications companies will be studied to lay the groundwork for the province’s recovery.
“We want to make the information centers in Kosovo a library online,” Ozeas said.
Posted September 13, 1999.