Priceless feminist archive goes digital

Turkey's only women's library celebrates its 25th anniversary with ambitious plans to expand and digitize It is a quiet afternoon in Turkey's only women's library and Professor Fatmagül Berktay, a renowned feminist academic and activist, is, as usual, hunched over a pile of books.      
  
However, she is not grading papers or doing research; she is signing books from her personal archive to donate to this unique and venerable institution, while also drafting plans to fully digitalize the center's archive.

Berktay, a professor of political science at Istanbul University and the writer of many books on women's issues in Turkey, is chair of the executive board of Kad?n Eserleri Kütüphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakf? (Women's Library and Information Center Foundation). 

A renovated Byzantine-era building closely linked to the Fener district's Greek community, the library was once a female school connected to a nearby monastery on the banks of Istanbul's Golden Horn.

After going into decline, the building is now home to this special library founded in 1990 by five Turkish women.

The group, who came from academia, librarianship and anthropology, were ?irin Tekeli, Asl? Davraz, Füsun Akatl?, Füsun Ertu? and Jale Baysal.

Having prevailed against the odds, Turkey's largest women's archive and library is now looking for new ways to expand and fund itself after a 2015 campaign where donors could contribute a modest 25 Turkish Liras.
 
"We remain standing [only] with donations," Berktay said in the meeting hall of the library's second floor where, despite a pleasant and quiet atmosphere, old and out-of-date PCs are still used to keep records.

The room's walls are decorated with paintings and sculptures...

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