İslahiye District Public Library

İslahite District Public Library
İslahiye Sabiha-Aziz Bali İlçe Halk Kütüphanesi
Country	Turkey
Established	21 August 2020; 17 months ago
Location	Santral Cad.. 21, Hacıali Öztürk Mah., İslahiye Gaziantep
Service area	İslahiye
Coordinates	37°01′24″N 36°38′07″E / 37.02333°N 36.63528°ECoordinates: 37°01′24″N 36°38′07″E / 37.02333°N 36.63528°E
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İslahiye District Public Library, officially İslahiye Sabiha-Aziz Bali District Public Library (Turkish: İslahiye Sabiha-Aziz Bali İlçe Halk Kütüphanesi), is a public library located at İslahiye district of Gaziantep Province in southeastern Turkey. Opened in 2020, the library building was redeveloped from a 61-year old defunct prison.^[1]^[2]

History[]

İslahiye Prison (Turkish: İİslahiye A2 Tipi Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu) was established on Santral St. 21 at Hacıali Öztürk neighborhood of İslahiye district in Gaziantep Province as a district penitentiary of type-A2 in 1958. Operated by the General Directorate for Penitentiary and Detention Centers (Turkish: Ceza ve Tevkifevleri Genel Müdürlüğü), part of the Ministry of Justice, the closed-category prison had four wards capable of 40 inmates.^[2]

By August 2019, the prison was closed down, and the 25 inmates were transferred to the type-L prison in Kilis. It was replaced with a new prison of type-T for 1,600 inmates, 600 detainees and 1,000 convicts, on the highway D.825 between Nurdağı and İslahiye to meet the needs of the region.^[2]

Redevelopment project[]

The prison building was converted into a library after restoration works financed by Adnan Bali, CEO of İşbank, one of the major commercial banks in Turkey. It was named "Sabiha-Aziz Bali District Public Library" (Sabiha-Aziz Bali İlçe Halk Kütüphanesi) in honor of Adnan Bali's parents "Sabiha-Aziz Bali Library". One year after the closing of the 61-year old prison, the library opened in a ceremony attended by local politicians on 21 August 2020.^[1]^[3]

Adnan Bali grew up in İslahiye, a small southern town. His father Aziz Bali, a local government official with limited income, built up a private home library to teache his children. His mother Sabiha Bali, who died in 2019, opened up the home library, which was the only library in the neighborhood, to all children in order to instill a love of reading.^[3]

There are reading rooms, meeting rooms and a computer room in the library. One of the wards is kept in order to preserve the memory of the building and carry it to the future.^[3]

It is one of the three public libraries in İslahiye district. The others are Altınüzüm Public Library and İslahiye Yeşilyurt Public Library.^[4]

In media[]

The story of the redevelopment project featured in a documentary film directed by Vedat Atasoy.^[3]

References[]

^ ^a ^b Çelik, Kadir (21 August 2020). "İslahiye Cezaevi 61 yıl kütüphaneye dönüştü". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Çelik, Kadir (18 August 2019). "İslahiye'de 61 yıllık cezaevi kapatıldı". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Bir cezaevinin Sabiha-Aziz Bali İlçe Halk Kütüphanesi'ne dönüşümü". Habertürk (in Turkish). 20 December 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
^ "Kütüphane Listesi" (in Turkish). earsiv.gov.tr. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

[cnnt1-1] Çelik, Kadir (21 August 2020). "İslahiye Cezaevi 61 yıl kütüphaneye dönüştü". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[cnnt2-2] Çelik, Kadir (18 August 2019). "İslahiye'de 61 yıllık cezaevi kapatıldı". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[ht1-3] "Bir cezaevinin Sabiha-Aziz Bali İlçe Halk Kütüphanesi'ne dönüşümü". Habertürk (in Turkish). 20 December 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[ea-4] "Kütüphane Listesi" (in Turkish). earsiv.gov.tr. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

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