U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe and Pomorskie Voivodeship Vice-marshal Wieslaw Byczkowski cut the ribbon to officially open the new American Corner in Gdansk’s Joseph Conrad Provincial and City Library at 13:30 on July 17. The ribbon cutting took place after a brief ceremony featuring short speeches by library Director Iwona Koperkiewicz, Deputy Director Pawel Braun, Ambassador Ashe, and Vice-Marshal Byczkowski. Invited guests included officials from the voivodeship and the Tri-Cities governments and representatives of local academic, cultural, and other institutions, as well as local media. In his comments, Ambassador Ashe stressed the importance of establishing an American Corner in a city that, as the birth place of Solidarity, symbolizes our shared values of freedom and democracy.