The Anne Frank Trust has opened a specialist library at its north London offices to help students and teachers research the Holocaust, other genocides, prejudice and racism.

At Monday's launch, trust director Gillian Walnes said: "We have a unique tool in Anne Frank, the voice of a child, to teach our own youngsters about social responsibility, preventing discrimination.

"We can learn from the positives in Anne's story to inspire us to do good, and also the negatives of the story, to prevent history repeating itself."

Among the guests was Nicola Baboneau from Hackney's Learning Trust, who spent a year taking an Anne Frank exhibition into multi-faith schools."The exhibition brought many issues linked to community cohesion to the forefront," she said. "Students could look at the past and relate it to the future.

"The exhibition inspired students to take action and I believe the library can do a similar thing."

Trust supporter Laurence Denton was the inspiration for the library, which will operate on an appointment-only basis. In 2006, he donated a large collection of books, including a first edition of Anne Frank's Diary in Dutch, worth £5,000. "We have to keep Anne's memory alive and this is the way to do it," he said.

As well as the 700 books, the library includes videos and DVDs. The plan is to hold regular evenings for teachers, the first next month.