Lusine Balyan
Anahit Vardanyan

The library in the village of Ditavan in the Tavush Marz is as old as the village itself. Unfortunately, its facilities are fairly ancient as well. Visitors to the library are struck by its Soviet atmosphere, and its Soviet book collection. In the 16 years she has been working here, librarian Anush Sarsgsyan has yet to fill out a card for a new book.

"The books are old, both morally and physically. Each one of the villagers has read these books many times. The books are not updated, although the readers are bored with the village routine. Ditavantsis are known for how much they like to read," said Sargsyan, who came here from the neighboring village of Aigehovit as a bride.

The Ditavan Library has 4,500 books. That sounds like a big number for a small village, but if you subtract all the various editions of multi-volume sets of Marx and Lenin, there's not much left.

"The villagers always ask me when we are going to receive new literature, and I don't know what to say. I have many books at home, too, and I've read them all. I don't know how to supply what the villagers need. Who should I ask? The village has so many problems that books and the library seem secondary," the librarian said.

Secondary though they may be, books are still very important to the residents of Ditavan, and Sargsyan says they treat them with care. "If a book is damaged, they repair it before returning it."

Anush Sargsyan knows by heart the list of books, the condition of each book, and its location on the shelves. It might seem that after sixteen years of the same books and the same routine, her job might be tedious, but she says it provides a way to socialize with the villagers, to learn about them, good and bad.

"The number of readers varies from season to season; we have slightly fewer readers in spring. You know, they're busy with planting and other agricultural things. The readers are of different ages and have different preferences. The elderly like to read history and fiction books, while the young people need more non-fiction literature," the librarian said.

The library is not a separate building. It is located in a room in the village hall, and lacks the proper conditions for maintaining its collection. Humidity, dust, and various insects are decreasing the lifespan of what are already very old books.