Armenian eBooks initiative, launched in November 2012, managed to create a collection of more than forty digitalized books. Through the initiative, Armenian electronic books are now available in the whole coverage of Apple iBookstore and Google Play – in more than 50 countries, through iPhones, iPads and various eBook Readers.
The Armenian literature here is presented in a new, entertaining and interactive way.
Series, especially designed for children and teenagers, offer various volumes from Hovhannes Tumanyan’s fairy tales to Khnko Aper‘s fables and from Robin Hood to the translations of Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carols.
The classics series represent Hakop Paronean’s “Honorable beggars”, Vahan Teryan’s “Dreams of Twilight”, Yeghishe Charents’s ” Land of Nairi ” and much more
In the spiritual literature part – the readers can find the New Testament, Christmas music liturgy with sound (audio) performance, scientific works on Armenian Apostolic Church movement, etc.
The Armenian eBooks initiative was established by Dr. Ruben Mirakyan and Dr. Marat Yavrumyan – associate professors from Yerevan State University.
Working closely with the young generations, the professors more than anybody else, observes the decreasing rate of literacy and the interest towards reading. Armenia once being one of the most literate countries in the world currently has lost its position and reading has become more an educational obligation rather than an intellectual pastime.
Looking for the reasons and issues in the back of the problems and seeing how technology comes to occupy the lives of the youth, the professors decided to combine the two.