K. Mehmet Kentel
We live in depressing times.
The library may be seen as a shelter, isolated from the ‘real’ world, a kind of a geeky sanctuary. And perhaps it is, to some extent. Yet we deal with real people, who bring their worries into the library, who share with us their depressing thoughts and concerns. And of course, we too are real people, with real concerns. So these days, the ANAMED Library, too, can be depressing.
But sometimes just a little piece of paper left by a patron makes you smile and find your energy renewed. Then you become grateful for working in a library, in an interactive work environment, with real people and their little talents.
As I was checking in returned books I found this little drawing on a piece of paper inside a book titled, 3000 Türk Motifi – Three Thousand Turkish Motifs. It was lodged between pages 156 and 157, yet there was no similar image on those pages. I turned the page and found one on page 159. Our patron had been trying to imitate one of the rug motifs. A peacock? Probably. It wasn’t a perfect imitation, perhaps even unfinished (library due dates threaten patrons’ artistic expression!), but it was still beautiful in its simplicity, and in the surprise it gave me.
It was, if you will, the 3001. Türk Motifi / The 3001st Turkish Motif.
Thank you, unnamed patron, for giving us this little joy, and for complementing Gürbüz Azak’s important work.
Azak, Gürbüz. 3000 Türk Motifi: Alemler, İşleme, Çini, Taş İşçiliği, … Osmanlı Giysileri – Three Thousand Turkish Motifs. İstanbul: Azak Yayınları, 1993.
Find the original book at the ANAMED Library.