Books live only in libraries: Book exhibition opens at ASPU
22.04.2022
Books live only in libraries: Book exhibition opens at ASPU

"The obituaries about books are baseless․Books will always be there, they live only in libraries," Tigran Petrosyants, Head of the ASPU Scientific Library, said during an exhibition held at the library on April 22.

The exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the University featured the works (from 1904 to 2022) of lecturers of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences.

The Faculty has a rich literary legacy which includes 401 textbooks by 114 authors and co-authors, learning and support manuals, a monograph, a collection of 14 conferences, four volumes of a yearbook entitled “History and Social Science” published in 2015-2018.

The oldest books exhibited were the historical writings of Professor Leo, a historian and publicist, and the textbooks reproduced in 1925-1926.

The latest publication is Professor Khachatur Stepanyan's book "The Problem of Establishment of the Soviet Power in Armenia by the Social-Political Thought of the Armenian Diaspora (1920-1930s)” published in Antelias, Lebanon, in 2021.

“Books will never ever disappear from our lives. Work with books is a different social perception, a psychological process that allows you to analyze, discover and develop your own handwriting and feature in your career field,” ASPU Rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan said hailing the idea of organizing the exhibition and keeping books in the center of attention.

The ASPU rector says she does not reserve the right to evaluate the exhibited books; she suggested leaving it on historians.
Congratulating ASPU on its 100th anniversary, Ashot Melkonyan, Professor at ASPU, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, said the Pedagogical University has come a long way in the last decade, becoming one of the leading universities in the country and making people recognize it. “The University has the right to live permanently; pedagogy is a field that cannot be replaced with another one. I hope that historiography will have its place and role in the Pedagogical University,” said the academician.

The exhibition featured books by professors of the Faculty and historians who graduated from ASPU, including Hakob Manandyan, Leo, Arakel Arakelyan, Tsatur Aghayan, Vardan Parsamyan, Vahan Rshtuni, Artashes Poghosyan, Ruben Mirzakhanyan, Levon Shirinyan, Vanik Virabyan, Amatuni Virabyan, Khachatur Stepanyan, Samvel Poghosyan, Hmayak and Avetis Harutyunyan, Tachat Sahakyan, Edgar Hovhannisyan and others.

“An exhibition that is organized not every 100 years, but for the first time in 100 years,” said Edgar Hovhannisyan, Dean of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences. He thinks the exhibited books proved that the University and the Faculty are almost of the same age․ The number of books displayed at the exhibition exceeds 100.

Edgar Hovhannisyan says he has known many of the exhibited books ever science he was a student but he didn’t know about the rich scientific legacy of the Faculty. "Any phenomenon is in the process of development; if the next generation does not exceed its predecessor, a setback is registered. A book is memory, history of mankind and scientific legacy,” Mr. Hovhannisyan said advising students to study the exhibited books thoroughly and to continue the work of their predecessors with honor.

Amatuni Virabyan, Acting Head of the Chair of Museum Studies, Library Studies and Bibliography, is sure that books will always be there, but as history has shown their "physical form" will be different in the future.

Zaven Grigoryan, Manvel Zulalyan and other famous names in the field… The professor considered the exhibition ‘to be touching,’ adding that he "had seen" faces of a number of people with the help of the books.

Professor Ashot Piliposyan, Acting Head of the Chair of Armenian History, says one will not get anywhere without books and literature. The speaker hopes that the literary heritage will be the basis that will preserve and perpetuate the University.

"One needs to be always familiar with sources․ "Only then is it possible to succeed," said Edik Gorgyan, an acting professor at the Faculty of History and Social Sciences. He thinks without science, education would be incomplete.

Addressing the students present at the exhibition, Professor Khachatur Stepanyan, Head of the Chair of World History and its Teaching Methods, urged to properly appreciate books which are a source of knowledge that teach to think. “Each page is ‘created through fighting․'by assessing the difficult process of its creation it will be possible to evaluate books.

“Educators and historians are the main force in preserving the identity and type of any nation,” said Doctor of History Vanik Virabyan, who has the most books presented at the exhibition. The historian’s advice for everyone is not to run away from books and to always learn irrespective of the circumstances.

Agreeing to whatever had been said about books, Dean of the Faculty of Philology Ashot Galstyan once again appreciated their importance and considered the exhibition to be ‘a book holiday.’

"History likes accuracy, and the more historical evidence you have, the more credible the conclusion will be," Felix Bakhchinyan, a student of the Faculty of History and Social Sciences, said at the end of the exhibition adding that in their works historians put the responsibility for the future of the nation in the foreground.

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