Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,
As the Deputy Head of the University of Toronto library I am honored to thank the British Council for this remarkable gift. The complete collection of the Millennium library that was presented to us today includes the classics of European and world literature: from Marcus Aurelius to James Joyce, from Homer to Tony Morrison, from Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn to Junichiro Tanizaki. Undoubtedly, it will be of great use to the students of the humanitarian departments in their professional studies of English language and literature – and you can imagine the impatient anticipation that the news of this gift rose in folks from Linguistics and Literature Departments of our university.
This collection of the Millennium library will also be a bounty for those who read English-language fiction for pleasure. Being an avid reader myself, I couldn’t help thumbing through my favorite Dickens and greatly enjoyed the hard-back book-jacket, the fine paper and the respectable design of the series – any book-lover, I am sure, will share my thrill.
On a wider scale, on behalf of the University administration and the library’s readership I would like to highlight that we highly appreciate these educational initiatives of the British Council aimed at getting the Ukrainian students acquainted with the British and world culture. The today’s gift is a valuable contribution to the knowledge fund of our University that will help to rise (and satisfy) our students’ thirst for the finest books of the past millennium. Reading and re-reading the canonical texts of world literature is a must for educating young energetic intellectuals, whom our country direly needs now.
Thank you again and let me ensure you that this Millennium library collection will be in reliable hands and will be used for the utmost benefit of our university readership.