Page 5 - kayseri-medeniyetlerin-besigi

PRESENTATION

Books are the most concrete indication of a nation’s adventure of culture and art, the conception of
civilization, the consciousness of history and the future knowledge. The book is a memory in the historical
context, the transfer of a tradition in a cultural sense, the continuation of the legacy left to mankind in
artistic terms to the future, and a factor used for the determination of time and space in terms of civilization.
The book or the writings of people write the history of mankind. It was not a simple pleasure or fantasy
that was aimed at by people who were struggling to leave traces to rocks, stones and caves. They tried to
understand life in time and space concepts, leaving signs to followers after them. For this, the emergence
of the writing is referred with the existence of man. To sum up, human beings mark the future with writing.
Writings on stones, rocks, caves, trees, skins and papers became cultural heritages for the entire humanity
and the world, not only for the society that came out of it.
In the tradition of all societies, the mention of the book together with divine inspiration has a sepa-
rate importance. In this sense, the book represents truth and blessing. The book, which is a human guide
and companion, enables him to make his life more beautiful and happy and to continue on his path in the
direction of ethical principles. Hence the sanctity of the book is directly proportional to the making of time
and space meaningful.
Whether the book is a book of poetry or a book of research or history; or a novel, a story, a photograph,
an art, a moment, etc. anyway, does not matter. It always carries the same mission. It allows people to
embody their meaning in space, to protect their meaning over time. This consciousness is the main reason
for the emergence of culture, art and civilization.
In this sense, the municipalities, which are the most important reflection of the common conscious-
ness of the society, have to pay the debt to the people they reflect with books again. The relationship of
a Municipality with the book reflects its relation to culture, art and civilization. We, in this consciousness,
are obliged to satisfy the spiritual and heart worlds of the people we come from and to whom we serve,
and to serve their cultural and artistic concerns. In addition to the everyday needs such as the road, water
and transportation; we also have to offer simultaneous services such as cinema, theater, panel, academy,
interview, conference and book, taking into consideration the spiritual and cultural needs.
Kayseri, which is the center of civilizations in historical and geographical sense, is known as “the city
of the scholars”. Therefore, we are also aiming to serve our people by publishing works that reflect our
history, tradition, culture and art in accordance with this nature and recognition. We know that the arti-
facts we publish are the signs we left for the future. Every library and cultural center we open with the
consciousness of “The city that reads”, every magazine and book we publish is a concrete indication of our
respect and love for our Kayseri.
Wish to see you in a library, in a cultural center, in an exhibition, in a magazine and on the pages of
the book ...

Mustafa ÇELİK
Mayor of Kayserı Metropolıtan Munıcıpalıty