History & Mission

History

The AGBU Papazian Library opened its doors in 1991, with the establishment of the American University of Armenia. Named after Simon and Pinna Papazian, generous benefactors to the University, it holds around 30,000 volumes of books, over 100,000 e-journals, and over 1 million e-books. The Library also holds the personal collections of several prominent scholars and philanthropists, including:

• Vartan Gregorian, 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, Armenian-American philanthropist and President of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) from 1989 to 2002

The AGBU Papazian Library not only serves the students, faculty, and staff of the University, but is also open to the general public.

The Library is proud to be an active member of the following professional organizations:

• American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) since 2004,
• Digital Library Association of Armenia (DLAA - formerly ELCA)
• Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), the national focal point for Intellectual Property
• International Association of Armenian Librarians and Archivists since 2026