National Library
The new national library is under construction on the main plaza. Here is a picture.
Currently, as of March 2009, the collections are being stored in an old army housing building near the Millenium bridge. Here are some pictures of the temporary location.
I am prety sure this says Sandra something. I am proud of myself for learning a bit of what I call Russian letters. I was married to a Russian spy for a while. Ha ha. Or maybe she wasn't a spy. I will never know the truth! She taught me to say a couple things in Russian before we got divorced. She trians horses now in America.
Doesn't this one look like it came from Russia?
There isn't a lot to see here really, and I only found one person who could speak English.
but I might go back and see if I can find someone else. The one person I did meet who could speak English well was super-nice and open minded. Her name is Lilijana. She used to be a journalist and loves France, and the French culture. but hasn't had a chanc to go there. yet. I recommend you ask for her if you want to visit the old army building/temporary library. She even has a Facebook account! She seems to be a pretty cool mom. She has a daugher studying law and she told me about some law professor named Popovic I think who is a bit of a political critic I guess. Or maybe more than a bit!
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I have more pictures but I am not sure where they are right now!
Later I will add a link to the French cultural center in Podgorica. I'm not sure if Lilijana has been there.
Note about libraries in dictatorships and democracies
Open access to books and new ideas is something we take for granted in the "free" world. The style of a library and the way the books are open or not so open to the public are very good indications of the kind of political leadership in a country. I have noticed that in South American countries (where I lived for four years) and in Eastern European countries (where I have been for over one year) the books are usually not easily accessible. There are few reading rooms. Few magazines. Few Internet computers. An interesting exception to this was a library I saw in Chile which was partially funded by the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation. I was pretty surprised to see that! It was in a relatively small town in northern Chile, yet it had four free Internet computers for the public to use.
I may try to do a little research on the design of the new national libary here, or interview the director one day.