On April 26, Zaruhi Sardaryan, head of the NLA personal collections department and Liana Sayadyan, leading librarian of the Main book stocks, shared their experience during a meeting about the 7th international seminar “Document Restoration: Preservation and Innovation-2024” held in Moscow.

The seminar was organized by the Eurasian Library Assembly, the Interstate Foundation for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States and the Russian State Library. Employees of the National Library of Armenia got acquainted with the experience of restorers from the CIS countries, restoration and conservation of documents, comparing and contrasting the experience of Armenia with the experience of restorers from the CIS countries for the further development of localization programs.

During the seminar, the preservation of library collections, Japanese and Chinese methods of preserving the book culture of Eastern countries and many other topics were discussed. The issue of opening regional centers for the preservation and restoration of documents was also discussed.

Suren Asatryan, an employee of the National Library of St. Petersburg and a restoration specialist, spoke about his seven-month experience of working in the restoration department of the Yerevan Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts named after Mesrop Mashtots (Matenadaran). He presented what materials Armenian specialists used in the past and what they use now, and at what factories they produce printed materials and paper.

Employees of the National Library of Armenia took part in working with living organisms in documents and books, monitoring microclimatic parameters in order to prevent outbreaks of mass infection, as well as in master classes on photograph restoration.