Hanna M. Pappius
Stefan Wladysiuk

The past academic year 2006 - 2007 was a time of intensive efforts to enrich the Library's holdings and make them more accessible to its readers. 

More than 17,000 books were borrowed from our community lending library. 610 books were purchased. As usual, most of the additions were in Polish, but the participation of Polish publishers in the Salon du Livre de Montréal in November 2006 provided an opportunity to acquire a number of translations into French of contemporary Polish authors. More than 120 books purchased from the McGill University Jutting Foundation funds were also added to the collection. Our internal computerized catalogue now contains about 24,000 entries; approximately 13,600 items are listed in the on-line catalogue of McGill Libraries identified by location code Polish Institute Library. $ 9,700 was spent on the purchase of new books and on subscriptions of periodicals. As in previous years, we wish to acknowledge with thanks the complimentary subscriptions to leading Polish newspapers Rzeczpospolita and Gazeta Wyborcza, and the weeklies Warsaw Voice and Polityka, as well as several Canadian and US Polish-language publications. The Library's collection of Polish films on DVD was significantly increased.

Among donations to the Library in the past year, of special interest is a facsimile of a XI century missal, Codex Aureus Gnesnesis. The original, written in gold, is in the treasury of the Gniezno Cathedral. Pope John Paul II received a similar volume on one of his pilgrimages to Poland. The donor, A. R. Rostworowski of Rawdon, is well known for his activities as a film director, for which he was honored by the Archbishop of Gniezno.

A new, successful, venture of the Library in the academic year 2006-2007 was the establishment of a monthly lending station at the John Paul II Saturday Polish School on the West Island. 

The Library's website, www.biblioteka.info, which includes links to the majority of Polish organizations in Canada, continues to attract many visitors (66,000 since its inception in 1999). We are grateful to our volunteer, Mr. Andrzej Leszczewicz for creating the design and for regular updating of our site.

At the Annual Conference of the Association of Polish Libraries and Museums in the West, held in September 2006 in Budapest, Hungary,
the Librarian, Mr. Stefan Władysiuk, reported on our Library's activities. 

Material from our archival collection was sent to Warsaw for the exposition on Polish emigration to Canada before 1918, which took place at the Royal Łazienki Palace. At the opening of the exposition, Prof. Hanna Pappius presented a recent publication of PIASC, the monograph Poza Gniazdem. Wizerunki Emigrantki Polskiej w Kanadzie w XXwieku. (Out of the Nest. A portrait of Polish Women in Canada in XX century), by one of the Institute's members, Prof. Maria Jarochowska. 

The Polish community continues the financial support of our Library. As in previous years, we received substantial donations from the Polish Socio-Cultural Foundation of Quebec, the Millenium Fund of Toronto and the Mickiewicz Foundation in Toronto. Among gifts from many individual donors, the Lech Chełmiński In Memoriam Fund, honoring a distinguished leader of the Canadian Polish Community and the Library's long-time friend and supporter, deserves special mention. Once again we wish to acknowledge a generous donation from Bell Canada to honor the volunteer work of Mrs. Anna Czerwińska, a retired employee of that Company.

The operation of the Library would not be possible without the efforts of a devoted team of volunteers who work unfailingly at a variety of library tasks. They are Halina Babińska, Teresa Brodowska, Marieta Brzeska, Anna Czerwińska, Anna Giżycka, Janina Kędzierska, Agnieszka Kwiatkowska, Jan Kwiatkowski, Czeslaw Lorenc, Elżbieta Matug, Krystyna Missala, Beata Podgórska, Zofia Romer and Krystyna Sokolowska. 

It is with great sadness that we report the death in April 2007 of Mrs. Anna Czerwińska, who for many years has been one of our most loyal volunteers.

Director of the Library, Hanna M. Pappius, Ph.D.
Librarian, Stefan Wladysiuk, M.L.S. 
Cataloguer (at McLennan Library), Ms. Nevenka Kostevic 

Opening Hours:  Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
 
 

Józef Litynski 

During the last academic year seven meetings of the Institute were held. Among them the promotion of the book Garden of Venus by Ewa Stachniak and two lectures by members of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cracow (PAU) were of particular interest. In September 2005 the renowned archeologist, prof. Janusz Kozłowski, discussed his work on human settlements from the age of the mammoths in northern Eurasia; he visited colleagues at McGill and the Université de Montréal. In April 2006 prof. Jerzy Stachura, Dean of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University, presented his research on gastric carcinoma and at McGill discussed the possibility of collaboration between scientists at the two Institutions.
In September 2005, president of the Institute, prof. Józef Lityński, participated in a Congress of Polish Scientific Societies Outside of Poland, organized in Cracow by PAU, at which he presented a paper on the activities of the Canadian Institute during the Martial Law in Poland.
Mr. Lech Wałęsa, the heroic leader of the Solidarity movement and the first President of the III Republic of Poland, visited the Institute and Library on the occasion of his receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the Université de Quebec. Prof. Lityński was one of his presenters at the ceremony in Trois Rivi?res.
The publication of the monograph Poza Gniazdem. Wizerunki Emigrantki Polskiej w Kanadzie w XXwieku. (Out of the Nest. A portrait of Polish Immigrant Woman in Canada in XX century), by one of the Institute's members, Prof. Maria Jarochowska, is scheduled for the end of April 2006. Prof. Hanna Pappius will be presenting it at the opening of the exhibition devoted to early Polish emigration to Canada at the Museum of Emigration in Warsaw on May 12, 2006.
The monograph Moje dowodzenie we wrześniu 1939 (My command in September 1939) by General Antoni Szylling is being edited for co-publication with the PAU in September 2006. General Szylling commanded Army Kraków when the Germans attacked Poland in 1939. He wrote his memoir of that period when he settled in Canada after being released from the German Prisoner of War Camp. Concerned that the communist authorities may distort his version of the events, he left his manuscript in the Institute's Montreal Library for safekeeping. With the fall of the communist regime it was decided to publish this important historical document.
Donations amounting to $30,500 were received in response to the annual appeal for support of the Library. Once again special mention must be made of the substantial grant from the Polish Socio-Cultural Foundation of Quebec, a generous gift from Mr. Andy Chełminski and a donation by Bell Canada, to honor the volunteer work for the Institute's Library of Mrs. Anna Czerwińska, a former employee of that company.
We are pleased to report that thanks to a grant by the Senate of the Republic of Poland we were able to install several new computers in the reading room and, thanks to McGill University we are now connected to the University's high speed internet network.

Honorary President of the Institute: Heather Munroe-Blum, 
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University 
Board of Directors
President Józef Lityński
Vice-President,Director of the Polish Library  Hanna M. Pappius
Vice-Presidents Aleksander M. Jabłoński, Stanisław Latek, 
Secretary Ryszard Grygorczyk
Treasurer Anna Glazer
Members of the Board Andrzej Garlicki, Alfred Hałasa, Zbigniew Małecki, Wanda Muszyński, Barbara Séguin, Adam Skorek, Stefan Władysiuk
 
 

PIASC - OTTAWA BRANCH
Aleksander Maciej Jabłoński, Marek Zaremba, Jolanta Lesniak 

Last year, the Ottawa Branch of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in Canada (PIASC) actively cooperated with the main Polish-Canadian organizations in Ottawa, such as the Polish Combatants Association in Canada (SPK), Branch No. 8 in Ottawa, and the Canadian Polish Congress (KPK) - National Capital Branch. The Ottawa Branch of PIASC is a member organization of the Canadian Polish Congress (KPK) as well as one of three branches of PIASC, registered by the Executive Committee of KPK. The Ottawa Branch of PIASC has currently 51 members; ten more members are expected to join the organization this year. As in previous years, the Ottawa Branch of PIASC organized lectures and sponsored various cultural activities. Three Executive Committee meetings and several informal meetings took place during the year. The President and the Delegate to KPK participated in most meetings of the Canadian Polish Congress, National Capital Branch. The President took part as Delegate in the Extraordinary General Convention in Toronto in November 26-27, 2005. Prof. J. Litynski and Dr. J. Kierejczyk represented PIASC and the Toronto Branch of PIASC, respectively. The Meeting dismissed the Executive Committee of KPK with the President G. Sobocki and decided that, till the next General Convention in Calgary, Alberta, the KPK Council presided by Wladyslaw Lizon will act as the Executive Committee of KPK. 
The Executive Committee of the Ottawa Branch of PIASC in 2005-2006:
Aleksander Maciej Jablonski Ph.D., P .Eng President; Vice President of the National Executive Committee in Montreal
Professor Marek Zaremba Ph.D., P. Eng Vice President
Andrzej Garlicki, Ph.D., P. Eng Senior Advisor, member of the National Executive Committee in Montreal
Professor Paweł Wyczyński, Ph.D Senior Advisor, Publications
Jolanta Lesniak, Ph.D. Eva Karpinski, M.Sc., P. Eng jointly acting as Secretary since November 2004,
Joanna Welfeld, Ph.D Treasurer; liaison, Saint Paul University
Professor Jerzy Sasiadek, D.Sc., Ph.D., P. Eng Representative to the Canadian Polish Congress, National Capital Branch, 
Prof. Richard Sokoloski, Ph.D liaison, University of Ottawa

The Ottawa Branch of PIASC organized a number of meetings and lectures in the academic year 2005-2006. The detailed list is as follows: 

September 2, 2005 Prof. dr. hab. Piotr Jaroszynski, Head, Chair of the Philosophy of Culture, KUL, Lublin - Polska - kraj wielkich poetow - Saint Paul University.
October 25, 2005 Prof. dr hab. Janusz K. Kozlowski, Institute of Archeology of the Jagiellonian University, Member of. PAU - Chasseurs de mammouths (Lowcy mamutow) - Canadian Museum of Nature. Lecture in French organized by PIASC in collaboration with our Branch.
January 7, 2006 PIASC-Otawa was the principal organizer of Oplatek Swiateczny, a yearly event organized jointly by KPK-Ottawa and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. The event was coordinated by Dr. J. Lesniak. The President carried on the event which featured a performance of Male Belle Canto directed by Mrs. Maria Knapik-Sztramko. Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Dr. Piotr Ogrodzinski, and President of KPK-Ottawa, Dr. Kamil Stefanski, and numerous guests from the Ottawa Polonia attended the event.
February 7, 2006   Prof. dr hab. Andrzej Paczkowski, Institute of History, PAN, Member of PAN - The Origins and Nature of Solidarity - lecture in English organized jointly with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland - Old Ottawa City Hall
February 14, 2006 Dr A. Maciej Jablonski, PIASC- Ottawa - Zarys historii Zrzeszenia ,,Wolność i Niezawislość" - w 60-ta rocznice powstania (organized jointly with Branch # 8 of SPK in Ottawa in the series of historical meetings of SPK - Dom Polski SPK in Ottawa.
March 10, 2006    Spirits of the Wedding Night - adaptation in English of Wesele by Stanisław Wyspiański - The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place, Ottawa. Adapted and directed by Ewa Karpinska, PIASC. Performed by the student Golden Horn Theatre. Production by PIASC-Ottawa in collaboration with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Ottawa. Introductory address in English by Prof. Richard Sokolowski, University of Ottawa. The event was sponsored by private sponsors, and the reception was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ottawa.
April 24, 2006   Dr. Bjarni V. Tryggvason, Canadian Astronaut, Canadian Space Agency, Saint - Hubert, Quebec - Space and Environment - lecture in English illustrated with slides - Saint-Paul University.
May 2006 Trains: A Journey of Remembrances - presentation by Mrs. Irena Szpak, Kingston, Ontario, planned after the end of the academic year (in collaboration with GSPH - General Store Publishing House, Renfrew, Ontario)  - Saint Paul University.
An important cultural event in this academic year was a performance of Spirits of the Wedding Night - based on the drama Wesele by Stanislaw Wyspianski, adapted and directed by Eva Karpinski, member of PIASC. Mrs. Karpinski organized Golden Horn Theatre - a student theatre ensemble - with young, talented actors: Magdalena Goledzinowska, Geoff St. John, Michael Wodkowski, David Grabowski and Olga Chrzanowska. She skillfully used the English translation by Noel Clarke for her adaptation. The performance was a sounding success of the director, the entire theatrical group and PIASC-Ottawa. A wonderful introduction to the performance was given by Prof. R. Sokoloski, member of PIASC.
The Ottawa Branch of PIASC will continue its co-operation with other Polish-Canadian organizations and local universities, as well as with Polish institutions, such as PAU (based on the agreement signed by PIASC-Canada and PAU) or the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. The President attended the meetings of the Canadian Polish Congress, National Capital Branch. Dr. Maciej Jablonski also participated, to a limited extent, in the meetings of the Executive Body in Montreal. The Ottawa Branch extends their acknowledgment to Ms. Lidia Zielinska, P.Eng., from the Association of Polish Engineers in Canada, Ottawa Branch, for maintaining our web site 
http://www.kpk-ottawa.org/PIASC/.