Sigrún Guðnadóttir awarded a Polish honour

Honoured with a medal for the library's work

Sigrún Guðnadóttir, director of the Hafnarfjörður Public Library, has been awarded the Polish Order of Merit. Aleksander Kropiwnicki, the Polish Ambassador, presented the medal to Sigrún on behalf of Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, through the Polish Embassy in Iceland. „I am proud. It is a great honour for both me and the library,“ says Sigrún. The moment at the Polish Embassy was touching.

The Order is an honorary distinction for service to the Polish community and to Poles abroad. It is awarded, among other things, for supporting Polish communities and promoting knowledge of and a good reputation for Poland in each country, strengthening Polish national consciousness and knowledge of Poland among the Polish community and Poles abroad.

„Poland has its own section in our library. We run an active programme in Polish and make sure that we always have the most popular literature and events in Polish,“ says Sigrún. The library was, among other things, chosen as the polling station for Poles in the last parliamentary elections.

Aleksander Kropiwnicki, Ambassador of Poland, Sigrún Guðnadóttir, Director of the Library, Sylwia Zajkowska, Curator of the Polish Section, and Alicja Szreder-Soroka, Consul.

Polish work is vigorous

There are numerous Polish cultural events at the library. The most popular, Easter egg painting, is fast approaching; the Polish Day is held annually in November. There were around 800 visitors at the last one.

Katarzyna Chojnowska, Kasia, a former employee of the Hafnarfjörður Library, is also to be awarded an honour in Poland for the library's vigorous cultural work. She returned home at the beginning of last summer after living in Iceland for sixteen years. Kasia is a pioneer in the development of the library's Polish service. She was, among other things, named one of the Poles of the Year 2023 for promoting Polish culture outside her homeland. Sylwia Zajkowska has taken over the reins of the Polish service at the library and is carrying on the work undeterred.

An incentive for good service

Sigrún leads the operations of the Hafnarfjörður Library and has been its director since 2019. The library, now over 100 years old, is located on Strandgata. It will move to the Fjörður before the end of the year, where it will be modernised and become a multimedia centre. „We are extremely excited about these changes. There, we will have a diverse range of activities and, of course, will continue to have a strong Polish section and events. The award is a great encouragement to our library staff to serve the residents of Hafnarfjörður with heart.“

A huge congratulations to Sigrún, Kasia and Sylwia. We are so proud of the library's excellent work.