PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Genocide Museum of America
March 8, 2010
Contact: Press Office
Email: news@agmm.org
Phone: (202) 383-9009

AGMA Announces Opening of ANI Research Library

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:
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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NR# 2010-01