Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced over the weekend that Şehit Şenay Aybüke Yalçın Provincial Public Library in the eastern province of Batman was included in an international list of public libraries worth recognition.
Ersoy tweeted that the library was among 32 in the world chosen for this title by International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). “We are pleased with (this inclusion) and congratulate the staff of the library,” he added.
The library, originally opened in 2020, was formally inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the weekend. It bears the name of a teacher who was killed in 2017 in an attack by the terrorist group PKK in Batman’s Kozluk district.
Built in the shape of a stack of books, the library is a popular destination among local bookworms. The four-floor building sprawls across an area of 8,300 square meters and also houses venues for activities for children and the disabled. It has a capacity of 1,200 people and hosts multiple venues for exhibitions and cultural events. The library includes special sections for visually-impaired and hearing-impaired readers, along with sections devoted to infants where parents can read books together with their children.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of visitors, the library proved popular for students because of its remote education section where students can connect to online classes.
