The Library would like to welcome all Bilkenters for the academic year 2014-15! Bilkent librarians have already met many new undergraduates as part of the GE100 Introduction to Academic Life program on September 4-6. We hope the students found our presentations both informative and enjoyable.
At the end of last semester, on May 16, the new Hasan Âli Yücel Room was opened at Main Campus Library. The room houses over 8,000 items, mostly books but also journals, offprints and photographs previously owned by Hasan Âli Yücel himself and kindly donated by his family to Bilkent University. The opening ceremony, held in the Art Gallery, was attended by academics, politicians, Yücel family and friends, and even graduates of the village institutes. Speeches were delivered by library director Dr. David Thornton, Hasan Âli Yücel’s grandson Mr. Ali Eronat, dean of humanities Prof. Talat Halman and the Rector, Prof. Abdullah Atalar. The invited participants then visited the new room and had a chance to examine the new collection. The Yücel donation comprises many rare and valuable books on a variety of subjects, in particular language, literature and history, and will prove invaluable for Bilkent students and researchers.
Our Library Lunchtime Lectures series continues this semester with three talks by members of the Bilkent faculty. To start us off in October, Dr. Thomas Zimmerman, chair of the Department of Archaeology, will deliver a lecture entitled “All That Glitters Is Not Gold, Nor All That Sparkles Silver: Ancient Anatolian Jewellery Unveiled.” Our speaker for November will be Associate Provost Prof. Tuğrul Dayar (CS), and for December Assistant Prof. Jason Edward Hale, chair of the Department of Performing Arts. Watch for detailed news of these and other activities at the Library.
As usual, the summer has been a useful time for construction work in the Library, including the ground-floor reading room in B-Block. In addition, we have repainted the group study booths in the Main Campus Library Multimedia Room. Over the past year, the walls of these study booths had been subject to a disturbing amount of graffiti, and it is hoped that from now on Bilkent students will refrain from needlessly defacing them, or other library property. The librarians will be monitoring the booths every day, and anyone found to be causing damage will be submitted for disciplinary action according to the University’s regulations. Thank you all in advance for helping us to maintain a pleasant working environment for current and future library users.
We wish everyone a successful semester, and we look forward to seeing you in the Library soon!