Women’s Library Celebrates Its 28th Anniversary

* Photograph: Füsun Ertuğ

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Women's Library and Information Center Foundation celebrated its 28th anniversary with a festival held in the garden of the library on April 14.

*Photograph: Ayşe Gül Altınay

After the session entitled "28 Years with Memories," where the story of the library from its foundation up until today was shared with the audience, the celebrations continued with Neveser Kökdeş Songs concert and Etnik Flamenco Dance Group performance.

*On the photograph:Tülin Tankut and Füsun Ertuğ

In the festival organized for the 28th anniversary of the library, an antique bazaar was also held in support of the foundation.

About Women's Library and Information Center Foundation

The Women's Library and Information Center Foundation, the first and only women's library in Turkey, houses a library of over 10,000 volumes and hundreds of periodicals in a Byzantine-era building in the district of Balat in Fatih, İstanbul.

Founded on April 14, 1990 by Jale Baysal, Aslı Davaz, Şirin Tekeli, Füsun Ertuğ Yaraş and Füsun Akatlı to record the lives and work of women, the library's collection covers the entire Ottoman period and the Republic era right up to today.

The Foundation has completed various national and international projects, each of which has enabled the Library to become a venue where researchers from all over the world come for resources about women's issues. As the Library acts as a centre of memory for women's histories, it welcomes diverse women's organisations in Turkey, which pluralise women's identities and agencies, as well as their visibility.

The Library, which also takes part in international projects funded by important gender equality bodies, is recognised by the international women's libraries and organisations as well. (ÇT/SD)

*Source: The Guide İstanbul, The European Society for the Study of English