American Libraries

Leonard Kniffel: So can you welcome everyone to Quebec in French?

Claude Bonnelly: (Welcoming in French)

Saw Player: You can testify it cuts for real, eh? It cuts for real, eh? So just for you I'll play a very beautiful melody. Have you ever seen the movie Titanic? (Playing My Heart Will Go On)

Bill Gates, Sr.: The power of knowledge to change lives. That's true here in Quebec, it's true in Latvia, and it's true in Botswana. Libraries are the leaders in the public information business. And an informed public is healthier, wealthier, and wiser. This afternoon I'm very proud to announce the recipient of the 2008 Access to Learning Award: The Vasconcelos Program in Veracruz, Mexico. (Applause)

Victor Arredondo: In Mexico, large of numbers of people subsist on few resources. The redistribution of opportunities to quality education is vital to overcome that sad scenario.

Vesna Vuksan: I think meeting the other fellows—2009 fellows—I think that I can learn a lot from them, not just from the Americans, but from those fellows because they have really diverse backgrounds. And also I can teach them. So I think it's going to be a great mixture of knowledge and fun I believe.

Claudia Lux: San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Applause) The conference highlighted some parts of the cataloging interests and a new way to do it, and also Web 2.0 activities from libraries. And we also highlighted a lot of new technology coming to the libraries and all the public library services, which we now want to extend and want to cooperate more with the archives and the museums.

Jennefer Nicholson: I'd also like to invite you to IFLA in Brisbane in 2010. And that will give you two years to be practicing your “G'days.”