YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Levon Mkrtchyan, minister of education and science, deems it is time to change the status of the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran to an independent foundation.

“The Matenadaran is one of the most important institutions of our country, and we need to transform it into a special foundation. Organizational works are already underway, in order for the Matenadaran to become the most important scientific and cultural brand of Armenian studies, where the manuscript collections will be the state’s exclusive property, and the foundation will be managed by the institution. And Matenadaran will truly be an independent entity. This is the structural change, we will do this, and afterwards the election of a director will take place in a new format”, he said.

The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, commonly referred to as the Matenadaran , is a repository of ancient manuscripts, research institute and museum in Yerevan, Armenia. It holds one of the world's richest depositories of medieval manuscripts and books which span a broad range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine, literature, art history and cosmography in Armenian and many other languages.