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Rami Library, one of Istanbul’s flagship public cultural venues, is marking its third anniversary after being brought back to life through a large-scale restoration, renovation, and reconstruction project led by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Over the past three years, the site has hosted more than 8,000 events and welcomed over 7.7 million visitors, positioning itself not only as a library, but as a broad, “whole-of-life” cultural ecosystem designed to keep heritage intact while also meeting contemporary public needs.
The library operates inside the historic Rami Barracks (Rami Kislasi), a roughly 250-year-old complex whose roots go back to the mid-18th century. Reopened following work carried out in line with its original character, the facility is described as Istanbul’s largest library and Türkiye’s first “sustainable” library, a term used to indicate an operational model that is intended to run in an environmentally responsible, long-term way.
In its anniversary statement, Rami Library set out an approach that frames the institution around the full lifecycle of knowledge: it aims to protect information through its collections, open it up through digital infrastructure, and build it up through public programming such as events, education, and workshops.
The same statement underlined that the knowledge produced through these activities is meant to be carried out beyond the physical building and circulated through both in-person and digital channels in a sustained way.
Entering its third year under the main motto “There is life at Rami,” the institution highlighted its shift toward an interdisciplinary learning and production space.
Programming has ranged across children’s and adult workshops, exhibitions, conferences, symposiums, panels, theatre and stage performances, concerts, film screenings, and themed festivals, reflecting a model that blends library services with a busy public cultural calendar.
Rami Library reported more than 7.7 million visitors in three years, alongside more than 8,000 events and over 2 million event participants. It also said it reached more than 2.9 billion interactions across press coverage and social media combined.
In terms of day-to-day library use, the institution reported more than 50,000 registered members and more than 300,000 books borrowed.
Alongside printed holdings, the library emphasized access to large-scale digital resources. In its statement, it referred to “e-resources” such as electronic journals, e-books, and academic articles, as well as “open-source access,” meaning materials that can be reached freely through open-access channels.
It also highlighted digitized access to rare printed works and manuscripts, in addition to specialized collections such as an Ataturk-focused reference library and a biography specialization library, as well as private archives and special collections available to visitors.
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