Estanbul 2010

Science historians date back the beginning of Istanbul University to the madrasah, established by Fatih Sultan Mehmet in the second half of the15th century. The collection of Central Library of Istanbul University contains manuscripts of 15th century, in Turkish and foreign languages. In the first quarter of the 20th century, it continued enriching its manuscripts written in old alphabet with the ones written in new Turkish alphabet, after alphabet revolution in 1928; once included within the scope of the Printed Texts and Picture Collection Law (1934), it started gathering all the printed works published with the border of Turkish Republic. It is our oldest and the largest university library which succeeded adding centuries, languages and articles to its collection.

In the following years of the establishment of the Government of Turkish Grand National Assembly (23 April 1920) and the declaration of Turkish Republic (29 October 1923), carrying the name of Darulfunun Library, the Library assumed the name of Central Library of Istanbul University with the university reform that took place in 1933. Its first administrator is Hasan Fehmi Ethem Karatay, who was an architect and had his postgraduate education overseas on librarianship.

With the Higher Education Law numbered 2547 and enacted in 1982, it started operating with the name ‘Library and Documentation Administration’, along with other libraries of faculty, department, institute and research centers. In comparison to other university libraries, the automation process is rather late and slow; but, the services it provides to the national and international users in the new and old buildings are big numbers and modern in quality. Technologies of the recent seven years outweigh this modernization process. The catalog system established earlier is still in use.