| Washington, DC – The Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) announced in advance of the museum opening that the Armenian National Institute (ANI) Research Library will be opened in time for the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2010. ANI has been part of the AGMA organization since 2003.
The support extended AGMA and ANI by donors has prompted plans to create a research facility that may also be accessible to researchers studying the Armenian Genocide. The special collections of books on the topic of genocide in general and the Armenian Genocide in particular that have been gifted to ANI already constitute a critical component of the future museum. As a step toward encouraging further research on the Armenian Genocide, AGMA has decided that the ANI Research Library should be made available for public use by qualified specialists.
“The thousands of publications that form the core of the scholarly and documentary record on the Armenian Genocide are a critical resource that ANI has been collecting over the years,” said Van Z. Krikorian, museum trustee and chairman of the museum’s building and operations committee. “The AGMA planning process has depended on the services provided by ANI to develop the exhibit concepts and contents. While we look ahead to the time when the entire museum facility is open to the public, we wanted to take this initial step in encouraging more learning and academic research on the Armenian Genocide as that constitutes one of the core missions of AGMA.”
“With ANI already located at the AGMA site, we will be expanding the Institute’s research facility and incorporate the resources that have been gathered and that continue to arrive,” added Krikorian. “ANI has collected documentation on the Armenian Genocide from around the world. As these records are processed and organized, we expect that more and more of the collected resources will be available for study and research.”
“With its rapidly growing library of 8,000 volumes, the base for creating a comprehensive collection centered on the Armenian Genocide has been created. With more donors prepared to share their specialized collections, and planning for a capacity of 100,000 volumes, the time had arrived to organize the ANI Research Library for use by scholars and researchers seeking access to resources on the Armenian experience,” Krikorian said.
The ANI Research Library will be located in, and utilize three floors of, the facilities adjacent to the historic bank building that will be converted into the museum. “The AGMA building and operations committee, whose members include Edele Hovnanian, Denise Darmanian, Richard Papalian, and Zaven Tachdjian, have worked tirelessly to begin converting the museum properties into useable spaces,” added Krikorian. “All of us are happy to take this second significant step toward assembling the AGMA project. ANI offices were relocated to the converted spaces in June 2009.”
ANI was established in 1997 by a special grant to the Armenian Assembly of America by the chairman of its board of trustees, Mr. Hirair Hovnanian. The Institute is dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. As part of its public service, ANI maintains the most extensive website on the Armenian Genocide available on the Internet at the following address: www.armenian-genocide.org. Since its founding the Institute has been under the direction of Dr. Rouben Adalian, who has also directed the AGMA project since 2008.
The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of the Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute (ANI), catalyzed by the initial pledge of Anoush Mathevosian toward building such a museum in Washington, DC.
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