When does the Millet Library open? The Presidential Millet Library in Beştepe, which will offer 5 million books, is scheduled to open its doors on Thursday, February 20, 2020. The Millet Library will also introduce an innovation at its opening: the use of chipped ID cards. According to official statements, the total length of the library shelving reaches 201 kilometers. Rare historical works to be displayed in the library are stored in specially produced protective boxes.
The Millet Library’s rare-item boxes have humidity control, and special sections have been prepared for children, students and researchers. Chipped ID cards will be used for the first time here; loan machines placed throughout the library will allow visitors to borrow and return books by scanning their chipped ID cards. Among the notable holdings is a handwritten Qur’an donated from President Erdoğan’s personal library, preserved in specially made acid-free boxes.
General Features of the Millet Library
According to reports, the Millet Library will open on Thursday, February 20. In the Cihannuma Hall—described as the library’s “window on the world”—and in the niche under the dome of the Rare Works Library, the Turkish translation of the 4th and 5th verses of Surah Al-Alaq is inscribed: “He taught by the pen; He taught man what he did not know.” The library, inaugurated by President Erdoğan, will present a collection including 2 million books and 2 million serial publications. In addition to print materials, electronic resources and digital works are also available.
The library’s digital holdings include 550,000 e-books and 120 million articles and reports. Collections encompassing publications from 100 countries and 134 different languages are planned, with total shelving length reaching 201 kilometers. The facility includes a Nasreddin Hodja Library for children aged 5–10 and a Youth Library for ages 10–15. Other features include an audio-visual library, rare works library, research library, the Cihannuma Hall, serials reading room, general reading rooms, a Seljuk museum and exhibition hall, bookbinding and conservation workshops, a 500-seat conference hall, technology classrooms, vocational training rooms, private group study rooms, film screening areas, a prayer room, a restaurant and a cafeteria.
Opening on Thursday, February 20, the Millet Library will also offer artificial intelligence courses and will serve as a lifelong learning center. Training programs for children, youth and adults will include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, augmented reality and coding.