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Libraries as Centers of Civil Society

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  • Libraries as Centers of Civil Society

    PRESS RELEASE
    The Civilitas Foundation
    One Northern Avenue, suit 30
    Yerevan, Armenia
    Tel: +37410500119
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: http://www.civilitasfoundation.org/


    The Civilitas Foundation continues helping regional libraries to regain the
    role of community centers.

    Rebuilding the Libraries of Armenia, One Step at a Time
    <http://www.civilitasfoundation.org/cf/dem 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
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