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The Civilitas Foundation
One Northern Avenue, suit 30
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: +37410500119
Email: [email protected]
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The Civilitas Foundation continues helping regional libraries to regain the
role of community centers.
Rebuilding the Libraries of Armenia, One Step at a Time
< ocracy-and-development/civil-society/424-rebuildin g-the-libraries-of-armenia-one-step-at-a-time.html >
by Olivia Katrandjian
When I was little, every Christmas I would get the same thing in my
stocking: a headlight so I could read in bed late into the night. While
everyone else was sleeping, I would stay up for hours, immersed in novels
and biographies. By the time Christmas rolled around, I had used my light so
much that I needed a new one. The local library became my place to escape to
– a home away from home for me that I shared with so many others whose
stories lived on the library’s shelves.
Today, I visited two libraries that may house books, but are not homes to
anyone. When I walked into the Ararat Library, the librarian was sitting in
the corner of the dark room with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. I
realized why, as a chill came over me – it was freezing inside. There was a
quaint charm to the place – natural light shone in through the window and
illuminated the dust on books that had been untouched for who knows how
long, as if the room was the ghost of a library past. There was not a
computer in sight. In fact, the library still used the old index card system
of cataloging.
The next library I visited had a tremendous number of books, but was much
like the first – there was no heat or electricity, the water didn’t work in
the bathroom and the floor was coming apart.
When the library’s director took me into his office, I noticed a massive
leak in one corner of the ceiling. The ceiling was water damaged and the
sheet rock was falling off. When I pointed it out to him, he said, `Oh,
that’s nothing,’ and led me into one of the other rooms filled with books. I
looked up and noticed that an entire wall was completely water damaged.
`This past winter, this whole room flooded,’ he said. `We had to move 72,000
books.’
Ararat and Ashtarak libraries are among ten libraries outside Yerevan that
the Civilitas Foundation is refurbishing with funds from the US Embassy. The
initiative is case-specific – Civilitas works with each library to figure
out what the library needs most. Refurbishing can include a heating system,
cataloging system, renovations, window and door replacement and, even, book
donations. In addition, Civilitas provides each library with computers and
a
multifunctional printer/scanner/fax machine.
The main objective of the project is to support and strengthen public
libraries in a number of rural and urban communities in Armenia in order to
transform them into centers of community life. But in order to do that, the
libraries need to be welcoming.
The Armavir Library is on its way to becoming just that. After visiting
Ararat and Ashtarak libraries, I was shocked when I walked into the Armavir
library. With help from the Civilitas Foundation, the library has a shiny
new tile floor, freshly painted walls and a renovated computer room. A
section was devoted to English books and I spotted a few that I had read as
a child. It was starting to look like a place I could call home.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
