Libraries in Çorum
Library services in Çorum rest on two main pillars: public libraries affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Hitit University library. Membership is free and requires only an ID card.
Çorum Provincial Public Library
The main building is located in Mimar Sinan Mahallesi:
- Address: Mimar Sinan Mah., Mimar Sinan 3. Cad. No:11, Merkez/Çorum
- Phone: +90 364 234 73 39
- Web: corum.kutuphane.gov.tr
It houses adult and children’s sections, periodicals and study halls. Branch libraries also serve the districts.
Branch Libraries and Opening Hours
| Branch | Location | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hasanpaşa Branch Public Library | Kadeş Barış Meydanı | Study hall open 24/7; lending Mon-Sat 08:00-18:00, closed Sundays |
| Eşref Ertekin Branch Public Library | Central | Mon-Sat 09:00-18:00, closed Sundays |
| Faik Tonguç Branch Children’s Library | Central | Tue-Sat 09:00-18:00, closed Mondays and Sundays |
The most popular section of the Hasanpaşa branch among students is its 24/7 study hall, which gets crowded during exam periods.
The name Faik Tonguç comes from the educator Faik Tonguç, founder of Türkiye’s first village library and one of its first village instructors — a mark of Çorum’s deep-rooted library tradition.
Hitit University Library
The university library serves students, academics and researchers:
- YORDAM catalogue search — the university’s entire book and material collection (yordam.hitit.edu.tr)
- EKUAL — access to shared electronic resources of Turkish universities coordinated by ULAKBİM
- KİTS — the Library and Documentation Department information system for publications and processes
- Electronic databases — subscriptions to academic tools such as Turnitin, iThenticate, UpToDate and Clarivate; regular user trainings are organized
- Web: hitit.edu.tr/tr/kutuphane
The library regularly announces database trainings (e.g., UpToDate, iThenticate user trainings); the calendar is followed in the announcements section.
Research Support
For academic and commercial research projects, the university’s Technology Transfer Office provides project consultancy, while HİTİTSEM offers research methods training.
History (according to the book Çorum Tarihi)
According to Çorum Tarihi (Turkish, “History of Çorum”), the city’s three libraries were merged into a single provincial library in 1925; after the community centres (halkevi) were closed in 1953, this library and the community centre’s library were combined into the Çorum Provincial Public Library. The library moved premises repeatedly between 1953 and 1963, operating under inadequate conditions until it gained its own new building on 23 April 1963, thanks to the “Çorum General Library Building Association” founded under librarian İlhan Erdemli and then-mayor Baha Çorbacıoğlu, with support from the provincial special administration. Per the book’s figures, the library’s book collection grew from 11,465 in 1945 to 27,142 in 1963, 35,854 in 1973 and, in the 1982 data the book draws on, 35,668, with 3,455 old manuscript works also in the collection at that time (Çorum Tarihi, p. 326).
Children’s library services began in 1955 at Albayrak Primary School under the Ministry of National Education, with management passing to the Provincial Public Library in 1960. The Faik Tonguç Children’s Library, built on land provided by the municipality in Çöplü neighbourhood with a donation from Çorum native Faik Tonguç (then living in Ankara), opened in 1964; according to the book’s records its collection reached 4,068 books in 1972 and 4,869 in 1982 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 326).
Sources
- Çorum Provincial Public Library — Official Site
- Çorum Provincial Public Library — Opening Hours
- Çorum Provincial Public Library — Branch Libraries
- Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism — Contact
- Hitit University — Library
- İlhan Tekeli, “1950-1980 Döneminde Kentin Faaliyetlerindeki Gelişmeler” (“Developments in the City’s Activities in the Period 1950-1980”), Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), 5. Hitit Festivali Komitesi; ed. Çorum Belediyesi Kent Arşivi, 3rd ed., Çorum Belediyesi Kültür Yayını, Çorum 2020, p. 326-327. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf