QULARC

Qatar University Library American Resource Center (QULARC) inaugurated.

March 28, 2007

 

The U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, Chase Untermeyer, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs of Qatar University, Dr. Sheikha Jabor Al Thani, inaugurated the Qatar University Library American Resource Center (QULARC) in a ceremony at Qatar University on March 28th.

QULARC has been established under the U.S. State Department’s American Corner program. Sponsored jointly by a U.S. embassy and a host country organization, American Corners provide access to current and reliable information from and about the United States, via book collections, the Internet, and through local programming.

As well as Internet and Digital Video Conferencing (DVC) capabilities, the QULARC has a wide-ranging book collection including reference titles, works of fiction, business and government publications. It will also provide extensive information about study opportunities in the US and be used as a venue for programs on a range of American topics and themes.

On the occasion, Prof. Sheikha Al Misnad, Qatar University President commented, "The American Corner will provide students with a wealth of resources about studying in the US as well as information about American culture, literature and lifestyle. In addition to this initiative, we are hoping to establish a number of similar collaborations with different countries like a Japanese collection and a Korean collection. This will enrich our library and offer our students good exposure to different cultures around the globe.”

“I am really pleased to see this initiative come to fruition, and thank Dr. Al Misnad and Qatar University for their continued cooperation with us,” said Ambassador Untermeyer. “We in the U.S. Embassy are always looking for opportunities to share information about the United States with our friends in Qatar, and the American Corner at QULARC will be a great mechanism to facilitate this task. I hope many residents of Qatar will find time to visit the center and participate in its programs.”

The first activity hosted at the QULARC was a speech on Thursday March 29th at about “Arab-American involvement in the public sphere in the USA” from Ihsan Al Khatib, a prominent Arab-American lawyer. Throughout the month of April there will be a number of activities planned, including a speech from Houston, Texas City Council member MJ Khan, as well as programs about American poetry, online education, and American quilts and handicrafts. All QULARC programs are open to the public.

The QULARC is located in the Qatar University Women’s Library and its hours of operation are 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM Sunday through Thursday. For more information contact the QULARC staff at 485-2406/2405 or visit the QULARC website at: http://www.qu.edu.qa/html/lib_am_corner.html.