History & Mission

The AUA’s AGBU Papazian Library was founded in 1991 the same year as AUA was established. It is named after the Papazian family, a generous benefactor of the American University of Armenia. Over 31,000 volumes of books and more than 395,000 e-books can be accessed through the library services. The Library has access to around 87,000 e-journals. 

The Library also holds personal collections of prominent scholars and philanthropists:

  • Vartan Gregorian, the former President of Carnegie Corporation of New York and the New York Public Library.
  • Richard Hovhannisian, Professor Emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
  • Louise Manoogian Simone, an Armenian-American philanthropist who was the President of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) from 1989 to 2002.

AUA’s AGBU Papazian Library is honored to be the chosen repository of the personal book collections of these renowned historians and philanthropists.

The AUA’s AGBU Papazian Library not only serves the students, faculty and staff of the University, but also students and scholars from other institutions.

Library is a member of the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) and the Digital Library Association of Armenia (DLAA NGO – former ELCA consortium) and acts as a national focal point for the Electronic Information for Libraries-Intellectual Property EIFL.net.

The Library’s mission is to help the AUA community achieve its learning, teaching, research and service goals by:

  • Identifying and acquiring information resources that support local and global information trends.
  • Curating and providing access to a well-rounded collection representing a diversity of thought and appealing to a variety of learning needs.
  • Providing a safe, comfortable and inclusive space for self-education and discovery.
  • Promoting curiosity and informed citizenship through open scholarship practices and active engagement with information resources.
  • Bridging Armenia and diaspora information needs, with a focus on preserving Armenian cultural heritage.