-

The purpose of this article is to examine all the available evidence for the existence of medieval Ottoman libraries which include libraries
established during the reigns of Osman Gazi, Orhan Gazi, Murad I, Bayazid I, Mehmed I,Murad II and Mehmed II. The libraries of this
period were invariably endowed to colleges and mosques. The salient
characteristic of these libraries was that they contained small collection
and usually did not have a librarian appointed for their custody. The lack of educational infrastructure and lack of collections for founding
libraries effect on libraries at this period of Ottoman history.