Gifts aplenty sent for Van Pelt celebration

It all started in 1784 when King Louis XVI donated over 100 volumes to the University's young library. Penn's come a long way since then. Celebrating the library's accumulation of over five million volumes, diplomatic representatives from 12 countries, ambassadors from Russia and the Republic of Georgia, the cultural attache of France and Penn alumni and administrators gathered together last night in Van Pelt's Klein Lounge. And the international figures present last night all had one thing in common: Their respective countries had each donated a gift to the library. "It's the high regard the Kingdom has for the University of Pennsylvania," said Nail A. Al-Jubeir, the deputy director of information at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. "Usually when we get requests like that, it's handled in our office but this one was specially selected by the Royal Court," he added. Last March, in honor of the library's 250th anniversary, University President Judith Rodin wrote letters to government leaders of every country that "registered" an online visit to the library, asking them to donate a gift to the library -- much like King Louis XVI had back in 1784. The result was an impressive array of over 250 gifts, including unique books about each country, engraved letters, royal printings of religious texts, plaques depicting treaties and even a gold dagger. Many of these gifts will remain on display at Van Pelt for the next few months before being added to the library's rare book collection and general circulation. Among the speakers at last night's reception was Lazare Paupert, the cultural attache of France, who spoke on behalf of the French ambassador in praising the University's accomplishment. "In Washington, we recently celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress. Big deal! This is the 250th anniversary of this library," Paupert said. Deputy Provost Peter Conn also addressed the importance of the historic event. "This is a remarkable occasion and a wonderfully international evening," Conn said. "In some sense, what we commemorate tonight as the end of 250 years seems also to be the beginning of the next 250 years." But the gifts were the real stars of the evening. Adam Corson-Finnerty, director of development and external affairs at the library, said the overwhelming response from other countries reflects Penn's high international standing. "Some countries really had an amazing response," said Corson-Finnerty, who graduated from Penn around 40 years ago. "The thing that's been amazing to me, as a Penn alum, is that these countries have... said to me, 'Well, your university is so well thought of,'" he continued. "I think Penn has an international reputation, and that really came home in the responses we got." Al-Jubeir said it was Penn's strong worldwide image that prompted his country to donate a silver- and gold-engraved letter from the Saudi king and a version of the Koran to the library. Espen Gullikstad, who came on behalf of the Royal Norwegian Consulate in New York, said providing resources to students at Penn benefits not only the United States but other countries as well. "We know that a lot of future American and world leaders are trained here, so we consider it very, very important to be present and to contribute," Gullikstad said.