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The US Embassy in the Russian Federation regrets the decision of the Russian authorities to close the American Center at the Library for Foreign Literature. Rudomino in Moscow. Washington remains committed to exchanges and programs, US Ambassador to Moscow John Tefft said in a statement. A library employee, who asked Kommersant not to name him, confirmed the information about the closure of the American Center. According to him, it happened so unexpectedly that many employees of the library and the center itself learned about what happened only from the message from the US Embassy.

"The US Embassy in Moscow deeply regrets the Russian government's unilateral decision to close the US Embassy American Center at the Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow," the US ambassador said in a statement. John Tefft recalled that the library recently terminated the official agreement with the US Embassy on the support of the American Center by the diplomatic department, and also notified the embassy of its intention to replace the director of the American Center and take full control of the organization's activities. "This move by the Russian government terminates US-Russian cooperation at the American Center at the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature named after M. I. Rudomino, which has been going on for more than 22 years," the American ambassador said.

The American Center was founded in Moscow in 1993. The center's website says that it is "a public library created according to the American model." The center provided library and information services, as well as hosting cultural and educational programs. Among American centers and corners, and there used to be about thirty of them in Russia, the Moscow center was the largest. Up to 300 visitors a day used the center's library, reference service, and visited EducationUSA. The center also hosted various events: lectures on a variety of topics, from the history of jazz to the US presidential election, from poetry evenings to small business problems; screenings of feature and documentary films in English; one-on-one meetings with native speakers; group discussions with representatives of the US Embassy; art exhibitions and concerts. All activities were free of charge. Statistics: visitors - more than 50 thousand per year; book fund - more than 10 thousand; magazines and newspapers - 76 titles; DVD - about 600; computers with Internet access - six.

According to John Tefft, the American Center "created deep and strong bonds between the people and cultures of Russia and the United States." “The unilateral steps taken by the Russian Federation recently cast doubt on the commitment of the Russian government to the ties between the Russian and American peoples, which were not interrupted even during the Cold War and at other difficult moments in the long history of relations between our countries,” Mr. Tefft said. He stressed that the United States "remains committed to the idea of ​​exchanges and programs that promote cultural ties and mutual understanding between the Russian and American peoples, and is also committed to continuing the important work of the American Center in Moscow."

A library employee, who asked Kommersant not to name him, confirmed the information about the closure of the American Center. According to him, it happened so unexpectedly that many employees of the library and the center itself learned about what happened only now, from a message from the US embassy.

Moreover, on September 11, a scheduled meeting of the International Library Board of Trustees took place, whose members are the directors of all international centers, including the American one. “No closures were mentioned there, the work of the centers was discussed as usual,” says the interlocutor of Kommersant. According to him, the decision was not made by the new director of the library: “He was just recently at an official event at Spaso House (the residence of the US ambassador), he had a very warm conversation with the embassy staff. At all meetings, he emphasized that the library remains the center of intercultural interaction. Obviously, some other structures achieved the closure of the center, and he did not have enough influence to resist them.”

“In general, such encroachments occurred throughout the 22 years of the center's operation. But each time the library management managed to find a new format of work that suited the authorities for some time, - the interlocutor of Kommersant said. - In recent years, the center has worked according to the following principle: all employees, except for the director, were citizens of Russia. At the same time, they were on the staff of the library, but the work of the center - and their salary - was paid for and transferred through extrabudgetary funding from the US Embassy."

How the center will be funded now is unknown. “Most likely, the Russian budget will not find similar funds, so the work will stop, there will be no replenishment of funds and new programs,” the library employee suggests. According to him, the center worked in the field of culture "without any ideological content." “All the work of the center is open, anyone could come, get books, take them home - there is no politics in this,” says a Kommersant source. “Moreover, we constantly worked with Russian state agencies, gave them information from our database of American legislation. It is very sad that this work will stop for unknown reasons.”

Recall that earlier it was reported about the closure of several American cultural centers in the Russian regions, and this summer the MacArthur American Charitable Foundation, one of the largest American charitable organizations that had been operating since 1992, ceased its activities in Moscow. During its existence in Russia, the organization has allocated $173 million in grants to scientific and human rights organizations, as well as expert institutes. The decision was made by the management of the fund and was explained by the impossibility of working in the current conditions, in particular, on June 7, it was included in the "patriotic stop list" of the Federation Council (SF). This name was given by the senators to a number of NGOs, which, according to the senators, should be recognized as "undesirable organizations" for their "engaged anti-Russian activities." Then the list included the Soros Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Freedom House, the National Endowment for Democracy and others. The parliamentarians assured that the list would expand and called on citizens to send their proposals.

Maria Efimova, Alexander Chernykh

On the eve of the New Year holidays, the director of the Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature (VGBIL) Vadim Duda sent a letter to the US Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Tefft. In addition to the traditional congratulations, the director of Inostranka stressed that the Library of Foreign Literature fully supports the activities of the American Center and "very much looks forward to continued cooperation" with the US Embassy.

There are not enough Americans in the American Center. I am deeply convinced that native speakers of language and culture should take part in the activities of the center. Therefore, we hope that the embassy staff will help us, ”Vadim Duda, director of the VGBIL, told Izvestia.

According to Anastasia Shitova, deputy director of the American Center, the American Center at Inostranka is experiencing a "lack of lecturers, scientists and native speakers."

At one time, lecturers' speeches were the highlight of the American Center's events, and we expect our colleagues from the embassy to help us with the content of the center's activities, - said Shitova.

Recall that the conflict over the fate of the American Center flared up between the leadership of "Foreigner" and the US Embassy in September last year. The new director of the library, Vadim Duda, who replaced Ekaterina Genieva, terminated a long-term agreement with the US Embassy to support the American Center. In an interview with Izvestia, Vadim Duda assured that the changes would not affect the work of the center and would only affect the source of funding. The American Center will no longer be funded directly by the State Department and will be transferred to the department of Inostranka.

The US authorities immediately reacted to the termination of the treaty. In America, five of the six Russian honorary consulates were closed. And already in October last year, the Americans opened an alternative American Center at their embassy in Moscow in a building on Novinsky Boulevard, 21.

As William Stevens, spokesman for the US Embassy in Russia, told Izvestia, for the sake of cooperation that lasted for 22 years, the embassy left "all books, printed and multimedia materials, most of the equipment and other property" in the library.

At the same time, according to Inostranka, the American side removed all electronic equipment: six MacBook monoblocks, a 3D printer, plasma panels, projectors and a plotter.

We had to restore all the expensive technical equipment of the American Center with the library's money. Computers, printers, panels and plotters were bought again, a new website and pages on social networks were created, - said acting. Director of the American Center Margarita Shabanina.

According to political scientist at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Victoria Zhuravleva, the call for a return to the Americans "can be perceived very positively and symbolically in the face of difficult relations." However, Zhuravleva notes, it is completely incomprehensible for what reasons the Americans might need this, because at their embassy they have created their own library center “no worse than the one in Inostranka”.

According to the expert, the only motivation for returning may be the territorial factor.

The new American Center is located at the embassy. It is not particularly convenient to go there, the registration procedure is long and dreary. In this sense, the American Center at Inostranka is much more convenient, - the expert noted.

According to the management of Inostranka, no response was received from the American embassy to the letter. The Americans responded evasively to Izvestia's request.

Back in September, when the agreement concluded with the library to support the work of the American Center was terminated, we ourselves suggested to Mr. Duda that we would create an American Corner at the library and thereby continue our long-term partnership. We have provided the library administration with a standard form of contract, on the basis of which more than 400 American Corners operate in libraries around the world. However, this agreement was not accepted, - said the press secretary of the US Embassy in Russia, William Stevens.

In a comment to Izvestia, political scientist Amiram Grigorov expressed doubt about the need to call the Americans back. In his opinion, the Library of Foreign Literature is not suitable for communicating with the masses with the “rough language of the State Department”.

Of course, the American Center in Moscow, as a division of the State Department, can only have a place in the US Embassy, ​​and nowhere else. Whatever the selfless sympathizers of the Empire of Good may say, doing something without benefit to yourself is by no means American style. They are used to opening doors everywhere and everywhere with their feet, in accordance only with their own ideas about what is right and what is not. They do not recognize any local rules. Perhaps they should have been politely corrected in this matter. Would you like to carry the flaming torch of your culture to the Russian masses? To health, however, subject to the observance of the legislation of the Russian Federation, Grigorov believes.

"Foreigner" is coping with its American center without foreign assistance. In particular, with the departure of the Americans, the center not only did not lose visitors, but, on the contrary, gained them.

If a year ago the center, which worked under the Americans, had about 2 thousand visitors per month, then since November of this year their number has grown to 3.5 thousand people, Vadim Duda notes.

The phenomenon is explained by the increase in the number and quality of cultural events (150 of them were held from October to December), as well as the positive effect of black PR.

According to the library director, “So much was said about the American Center that even those who never knew about it learned about it. Many felt it their duty to drop in and see what happened.”

The American Center is one of 10 foreign centers located at the Foreign Literature Library. It was founded in Moscow in 1993 as a library operating on the American model.

The Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature terminated the agreement with the US Embassy in Moscow, under which the Embassy financed the work of the American Center at the library. According to the director of Inostranka, Vadim Duda, the center will continue to work, but under the new rules, as an integral part of the library. The embassy believes that the organization will not be able to work as before. Over the past few years, all American corners in libraries in Russia have closed, and there are fewer and fewer exchange programs with the United States.

The news that the American Center at the Library for Foreign Literature will be closed appeared on September 16 in the Izvestia newspaper. Following this, US Ambassador John Tefft expressed regret about this and linked the decision of the library management with instructions from the Russian authorities. “This move by the Russian government ends US-Russian cooperation at the American Center at the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature. M. I. Rudomino, which lasted more than 22 years. The American Center created deep and strong bonds between the people and cultures of Russia and the United States,” reads a statement on the embassy website.

Director of the Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature Vadim Duda, in turn, said that the center is not closed, and the library is interested in preserving it. Termination of the agreement, according to him, is caused by formal reasons. “The current agreement with the US Embassy stipulates that the American Center leases our premises, but we cannot lease the premises under the library’s charter,” Vadim Duda told Novaya Gazeta. - Everything that we can do with real estate, we must coordinate with the Federal Property Management Agency. For several years, various organizations demanded the elimination of these violations, from the Federal Property Management Agency to the Investigative Committee. I cannot say that now the correspondence with them has intensified. We hope that the subject of the new agreement with the embassy will not be explicitly renting or staffing, but rather the holding of certain events. The staff of the center are on the staff of the library, but this is tied to a grant agreement from the US Embassy, ​​and now they will move to full-time work in the library without a time limit.”

The American Center was previously a US embassy organization. It contained a collection of over 10,000 American books, 76 newspapers and magazines, and a DVD collection. In the center one could take literature, get advice on education in the USA, get information about the structure of the American state. The center hosted lectures and meetings with famous Americans, including Ambassador John Tefft. According to the center, it was visited by 50,000 people a year.

After the reorganization, the American Center will become part of the North American Department of the library, instead of an American embassy employee, it will be headed by a library employee. “The fact is that the director of the center should be an employee of the library. An external person manages the staff, signs the internal documents of the library - this should not be so, ”says Vadim Duda. He hopes that, despite the incident, the US Embassy will continue to support the work of the American Center: “This is a good part of the library, it is interesting to readers. We very much hope that our American partners will continue to support the activities of the center - it's not just about money, it's also about methodological support: they help with literature and organize events. Even if we do not reach an agreement on grants from the Americans, we will do it at our own expense. But we would like them to consider this as their cultural center so that the work can continue.”

Lecture on the work of Anna Akhmatova at the American Center. Photo: Facebook

Will Stevens, a spokesman for the US embassy in Moscow, says the embassy received notice of the termination of the agreement in early September, and negotiations with the library's management were still going on about how the American Center could continue to work. But he will most likely not be able to function as before. “Before that, the director was an American, the embassy employees worked in the center, now this will not happen,” says Will Stevens. — Our agreement stipulated that we support the library with a grant and pay, among other things, for the work of 8 or 10 employees of the center, citizens of Russia. So it was 22 years old. Previously, it was the American Center, where our leader was, our events - but now it will not be the same. The center has a huge collection of publications, and we will probably donate it to the library - we have already donated something. When we invited some famous American to Russia for any of our programs, we always tried to introduce him to the American Center. There were cosmonauts, artists, athletes, scientists.”

Stevens emphasizes that the embassy still has good relations with Vadim Duda, but notes that there are 13 more similar centers operating at the library under the patronage of embassies of other countries, and what happens with the American Center does not happen to them. Vadim Duda, in a conversation with Novaya, noted that in the future the changes will affect all foreign centers.

“In 2013-2014, 29 American corners were closed at libraries in regional centers, there are no more of them left. The American Center at the Foreign Literature Library was the largest of them,” notes Will Stevens. “This is not the first time we have seen the Russian government put pressure on such activities. A year ago, FLEX, the largest academic exchange program, was canceled: more than 80,000 Russian schoolchildren studied in the United States and served as ambassadors of Russian culture to millions of Americans. The graduates of this program now play an important role in Russia, they are in the government. By the way, Margarita Simonyan is also a FLEX graduate. But we are committed to continue our exchange programs.”

Vadim Duda speaks cautiously about the connection with the events in foreign policy and the cold snap between Russia and the United States: “Of course, there is always a connection, but for me, as a manager, this is an occasion to be very attentive to the impeccable purity of our agreements. Our actions are aimed at protecting the American Center. We don't have any political prescriptions."