SAN PEDRO SULA – Hundreds of sampedranos came to the Centro Cultural Sampedrano (CCS) on October 22, 2015, to officially open CCS’ renovated Benjamin Franklin Public Library. The opening ceremony was part of a week of the cultural center’s sixtieth anniversary celebrations. The Department of State’s Information Resource Officer for Mexico and Central America Laura Kaspari Hohmann, the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa Eric Turner, and the CCS Executive Director Francia Quintana cut the ribbon to open the library to the general public.
Following the dedication, Eric Turner said, “For sixty years, CCS has helped generations of Hondurans open the door to studying English, the love of reading and a brighter future. This renovation ensures that CCS will continue to serve the public for the next sixty years.”
Financial support for the project came from the Department of State’s American Spaces program. The new library includes many design components recommended by consultants from The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It also features updated technology and internet access and features a “maker space” complete with a top quality 3-D printer, the only such printer available for public use in San Pedro Sula. The library also houses the office used by the EducationUSA advisor, guaranteeing that students interested in pursuing higher education in the United States will be visiting a modern location with access to both written and digital material showcasing U.S. colleges and universities.
The funding also renovated one of CCS’s auditoriums by updating its audio-visual capabilities and providing it improved access to the internet, thereby assuring that it will be widely used –whether it is to show movies or other cultural events or as a platform for digital video conferences.
