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Tire Necip Paşa Library

By Yasemin Akçagüner

The library, a brick structure with a dome and wooden portico, is situated in the middle of a garden seen beyond iron grates. Immediately to the left through the iron gates lies the small security booth where visitors to the library must announce themselves.
The library’s entrance with the security booth to the left.
Photo Credit: Yasemin Akçagüner.

Off the beaten track of researchers and scholars of the Ottoman Empire, Tire Necip Paşa Library is an endowment (Tr. vakıf, Ar. waqf) library dating back to the early-nineteenth century located in the Turkish town of Tire in Izmir province. Sometimes spelled Necippaşa or Necib Paşa, this library is more accurately described as a manuscript museum and conservation site. Established in 1827-28 by the Ottoman statesman Mehmed Necib Paşa, the library boasts 5156 titles that include 1754 manuscripts and 3402 print books in modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. The library continues to serve researchers through digitization services and limited capacity in-person viewings in its original location today.

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