Over 16,000 schools provided with libraries

ANTALYA

Turkish authorities have said more than 16,000 libraries have been built for schools that did not have their own book-borrowing facilities across the country.

Speaking at the 20th Traditional Education Symposium of the Turkish Private Schools Association held in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, Education Minister Mahmut Özer said that 16,361 schools that do not have a library have been provided with libraries in the last two months.

“We have 57,108 schools, 71,320 schools serve with private education institutions. We built 16,361 libraries in all our schools only in two months,” Özer said, noting that it is aimed to increase the number of books in libraries to 100 million by the end of 2022.

Efforts continue within the scope of the “No School Without Library Project,” which was planned by the Education Ministry, supported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and carried out under the auspices of First Lady Emine Erdoğan.

The library initiative has also been combined with Turkey’s “zero waste” policy, with efforts to instill a passion for reading in the country’s youth, leading to the building of 250 new libraries that are entirely made of recycled materials.

The first “zero waste” library was installed at a high school in the eastern province of Ağrı and soon expanded to other provinces.

Zero waste libraries consist of bookshelves, tables, chairs and other materials recycled from used materials.

Libraries also stand out with colorful decorations adorning them, built from recyclable materials.