From Hâfız-ı Kütüb to Librarian: The Historical Development of Library Profession from Ottoman Empire to the Present
Ekrem TakLibrarianship is one of the oldest professions that has developed with the emergence of libraries. Accordingly, librarians are an old professional group that has provided information services from ancient times to the present. This article examines the process of the historical development of librarianship as a profession and the changing roles of librarians (hâfız-ı kütüb) from the Ottoman Empire to the present. This historical process will be analyzed in three periods: the first period covers the time from the appearance of professional librarians to the declaration of Tanzimat, the second period is from the declaration of Tanzimat to the proclamation of the Turkish Republic and the third period is from the proclamation of the Turkish Republic to the present. It will be made evaluations about hafızı kütüp by examining the foundation deeds of the endowment libraries in the first period of Ottomans. The establishment regulations of the modern school libraries will be examined in the second period. It will be investigated whether there is any difference between the librarians employed in modern school libraries and those appointed through the foundation deeds. In the third period, the librarians appointed during the Republic era and the education of the librarianship will be examined.
Hâfız-ı Kütübden Kütüphaneciye: Osmanlıdan Günümüze Bir Mesleğin Gelişimi
Ekrem TakKütüphanecilik, kütüphanelerin ortaya çıkışıyla birlikte gelişen dünyanın eski mesleklerinden biridir. Buna bağlı olarak kütüphaneciler de antik çağlardan günümüze kadar bilgi hizmeti veren eski bir mesleğin mensuplarıdır. Bu çalışmada kütüphaneciliğin meslekî bir formasyon olarak gelişimi ve kütüphanecilerin (hâfız-ı kütüblerin) Osmanlıdan günümüze kadar değişen rolleri incelenecektir. Bu süreç hâfız-ı kütüblüğün ortaya çıkışından Tanzimat’ın ilanına kadar, Tanzimat’ın ilanından Cumhuriyet’in ilanına kadar ve Cumhuriyet’in ilanından günümüze kadar üç dönem halinde değerlendirilecektir. Bu üç döneme ait tespit edebildiğimiz belgeler ve kaynaklar ışığında hâfız-ı kütüblerin görevlendirilme şekilleri, sorumlu oldukları işler ve dönemler arasındaki farklar tespit edilecektir. Osmanlı dönemine ait birinci kısım kütüphane vakfiyeleri üzerinden incelenerek değerlendirmeler yapılacaktır. Hâfız-ı kütüb terimi geçen kütüphane vakfiyelerinde kütüphanecilik mesleğinin izleri aranacaktır. Yine Osmanlı dönemine ait ikinci kısım için bu dönemde kurulmuş modern okul kütüphanelerinin kuruluş nizamnameleri değerlendirilecektir. Modern okul kütüphanelerinde istihdam edilen hâfız-ı kütübler ile vakfiyeler aracılığı ile atanan hâfız-ı kütübler arasında herhangi bir fark olup olmadığı araştırılacaktır. Üçüncü kısımda ise Cumhuriyet döneminde atanan kütüphaneciler incelenecektir. Bu dönemde kütüphanecilerin nasıl eğitim aldıkları ve nasıl uzmanlaştıkları incelenecektir. Son olarak Türkiye’de başlayan kütüphanecilik eğitimi faaliyetleri araştırılacaktır. Kütüphanecilik eğitimlerinin önce kurslar daha sonra üniversitelerde lisans seviyesinde eğitim almalarına kadar geçen serüven anlatılacaktır.
Librarianship is one of the oldest profession in the World that has developed with the emergence of libraries. Accordingly, librarians are an old professional group that provides information service from ancient times to the present. This article attempts to examine the process of the historical development of the librarianship as a profession and the changing roles of the librarians (hâfız-ı kütübs) from Ottoman Empire to the present. This historical process will be analyzed in three periods; the first period covers the time from the appearance of professional librarian to the declaration of Tanzimat, the second period is from the declaration of Tanzimat to the proclamation of Turkish Republic and the third period is from the proclamation of the Turkish Republic to the present. In the light of the documents and sources belong to these three periods, the system of selection and appointment of the librarians (hafızı kütüp), the duties and responsibilities which had to be met and the differences between the periods are determined.
The period from the appearance of librarianship (Hafız-ı Kutubluk) to the declaration of Tanzimat is examined based on the deeds and the documents of the foundations established in the Ottoman Empire. A serach is made for traces of the profession of librarianship in the foundation deeds in which a mention of “hafiz kütüp” was made. It can be seen that there is no legal arrangement, regulation, or provision regarding the work to be done by librarians in the early period of the Ottomans. Librarianship as a profession started to develop in the 15th century, and the job descriptions of librarians were first discovered in the foundation deeds of the endowments established in the period of Fatih the Conqueror. However, the deeds of these endowments focused more on the duties to be performed by the librarians rather than the qualities sought in the candidates to be employed in the libraries. There is no provision made in the foundation deeds for the qualifications of candidates for the post of librarian until the period of Tanzimat Reforms. During this period, it was only stipulated that the candidates should be trustworthy, knowledgeable and religious.
The process from the declaration of Tanzimat to the proclamation of the Turkish Republic is examined looking through the regulations of the schools established in this period. There is an investigation into if there is a difference between the librarians (hafızı kütüb) employed in modern school libraries and those appointed through the foundations deeds. It can be observed that the process of change in the profession of librarian started through the new technical schools established outside the madrasa system. Even though we see the proliferation of the conditions required to be met by the librarians in the libraries established after the Tanzimat period, librarianship was neither defined as a professional field of study and practice, nor were candidates sought who possessed any educational and professional qualifications in order to be appointed to the librarian post. However, it is obvious that this situation started to change towards the end of the century. With the opening of various school libraries during the Tanzimat period, both the duties of librarians proliferated, and the qualities and conditions sought in them began to be specified, albeit partially.
The third period deals with those librarians appointed in the Republican era. The activities on the education of librarianship in the Republican era are examined through a literature review of the period. It can be observed that librarianship as a modern sense began in this period. An analysis is made of how librarians were trained and specialized in this period. Furthermore, an examination is made of the activities in the education of librarians which began in Turkey. The adventure of the education of the librarians from courses to undergraduate level at university is explained. In the Republican era, new professional qualifications started to be sought in librarians and the profession of librarianship could be described. The first step was to open librarianship courses, and existing librarians were obliged to attend these courses, and then those who wanted to become librarians were asked to obtain certificates from these courses. As of 1954, with the opening of the Department of Librarianship in Ankara University, those who want to become a librarian have to complete academic education at the university level.
