Scott Roland: Access To Information Is Foundation For Democracy

The US Embassy in Belarus takes part in the XXII Minsk International Book Fair.

The diplomatic mission presented a stand under the name “Read. Learn. Create. Implement”. Interactive electronic presentations and animation intended to assist English teachers and students, educational table-top games and constructors are demonstrated at the stand. Also a trivia game on inventions, science and innovation in the US was conducted between Belarusian teams.

Scott Roland, a US Charge d'Affairs in Belarus, said in his interview to BelaPAN:

“This time the theme of the US Embassy stand is "Read. Learn. Create. Implement.” We display not only books, but also educational games and technical creativity kits. This is very important. Access to information is the foundation for democracy. Similar to all the other embassies, we want people to understand our country better.

We want people to realize what opportunities offer the USA: opportunity to learn, to get an education and then use the acquired knowledge. This is the core idea that our stand delivers this year. This is not only about the books. We’ve been using books as the source of the knowledge for quite a long time. Today, a library in the USA is a place where people can acquire knowledge and then use that knowledge. Each library has a number of different computers, internet access and so on. We wanted to share this information with the visitors of the fair this year.”

According to charter97.org writer Svetlana Alexievich won’t take part in the XXII Minsk International Book Fair. No special events with the Nobel laureate have been planned.