On entering the American Culture Centre at the US Embassy in Cairo, the ambience of nostalgia washes over you, evoking memories of old books and quiet study space. Regular visitors know that feeling because they have been coming here since it was opened 27 years ago.
However, for the past three years, the centre was closed due to Covid-19, but now it has reopened with more activities and hopes to welcome back old and new faces.
Lauren Lovelace, Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, told The Egyptian Mail that the centre welcomed over 60,000 people a year before the pandemic and that the re-opening is a new opportunity to enhance communication with Egyptians from all walks of life.
“We now do a lot of virtual programmes and nearly 25,000 people benefited from the centre’s online services throughout the Corona epidemic period, so we were able to reach every single governorate across Egypt,” Lovelace told this paper.
In addition to a variety of books, films and English language clubs, the centre is offering programmes on entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, sustainable development, climate action, and recently it organised a women’s entrepreneurship camp.
Not only does it have a variety of English language books that researchers and students can use, but the centre also has Arabic translations of well known American books.
“We have a wonderful Arabic book programme here. Here you can see the book of essays by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. translated into Arabic,” Lovelace said, adding that the centre also welcomes people of all abilities as the centre is handicapped accessible.
One of the activities of the centre is virtual reality, where visitors can enjoy touring the tomb of Nefertari or get into an action game.
“The centre is not just a library but we have DVDs, computers and different types of equipment like iPad for people to read ebooks, virtual reality equipment,” Head of the American Centre Donna Wiss told this newspaper.
There are around 600 centres in the world which have different names but are collectively called American spaces. In Egypt, there is the American Centre which is inside the US Embassy and there are also two other spaces: the American Corner in Maadi Public Library and the American Corner in Alexandria in the Amideast centre.
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