Libraries

Turkey has modern university library facilites. Although all Turkish universities have libraries on their campuses with multimedia facilities, many of the books are presently only available in Turkish. There are a few university libraries such as METU (Middle East Technical University), Hacettepe University, Bilkent University in Ankara and Bogazici University, ITU (Istanbul Technical University) and Sabanci University in Istanbul whose books and materials are predominantly in English. All universities in Turkey have computer labs with free wireless internet connection.

University libraries are the backbone supporting degree programs, research and teaching. An impressive collection of books, periodicals, e-books, e-journals, academic Internet resources, music scores and other printed material are available in most libraries. Extensive audio-visual and sound recording collections are also available at your disposal. Libraries offer essential and supplementary resources for students in all academic disciplines. In addition, libraries commonly offer a comprehensive range of cultural resources.

Some libraries provide online access to digital materials. Electronic reserves are available online to students 24 hours a day, even when the library is closed. Virtual libraries contain hundreds of thousands of electronic books, electronic journals, electronic databases and encyclopedias. Access to these resources is available over the internet, on-campus and/or off-campus.

Apart from university libraries, Turkey has a very comprehensive national library called Milli Kutuphane. This large-scale library located in Ankara hosts millions of books and different sources of media. The National Library of Turkey has just signed a protocol agreement with Europeana, the European Union Digital Library, to join the common system used by European Union libraries. Researchers in EU countries will greatly benefit from having online access to the 2 million items held by Milli Kutuphane.