The library's original manuscript collection consists of works written in Ottoman, Arabic and Persian in 20 branches of science, the majority of which are Islamic sciences. Since the establishment of our library, cataloging studies have been carried out at different times. The first of these studies is the list of works, which can be described as an inventory prepared in 1792-1793 at the establishment of the library and it was annexed to the Foundation Charter, the Vakfiye. A more comprehensive study was carried out in 1795 in a leatherbound catalogue. Brief information on each manuscript, such as the title of the work, the author (müellif), the copyist (müstensih), and the date of writing were recorded.

The next two cataloging works were two separate studies in Ottoman by the Rhodes Vakouf Administration and Hâfız Mehmed Celâleddîn Müftüzâde Efendi from Lemnos in 1923.

In 1995, Hüznü Özer and Ali Çakır of the General Directorate of Foundations carried out the first cataloging and reporting study in Turkish. This study covers 1200 manuscripts and books in addition to the original collection. The 1995 catalogue goes into details like title of the work, the author, the language in which the manuscript is written, number of pages, number of lines, writing style, name of the copyist, date of the copy and for a limited number of manuscripts brief description of the cover, design and content.

Between 1997 and 2001, renowned historian and Rhodian by choice, Dr. John R. Barnes reviewed all previous cataloging studies and meticulously conducted a new inventory which constitutes the most comprehensive examination of the contents of Hâfız Ahmed Agha's library to date. Dr. Barnes compared the list of works in our Library with the distinctions stipulated in the cataloging studies carried out in 1923 and 1995, and examined the works categorized into 20 branches of science and shared enlightening information about these fields. With his work, Dr. Barnes introduces researchers and enthusiasts not only to the contained and precious ecosystem of Hafız Ahmed’s manuscripts, but also to historical, cultural and political background of some of these pieces of art and the fields of sciences to which they belong. In Dr. Barnes's work, we see the delicacy and passion of a copyist – of a müstensih - who gives a new spirit to the manuscript with his marginal notes and carries the reader to a realm beyond the text. We bow to the efforts of Dr. John R. Barnes, a member of our Advisory Board, for his tedious and enormous work in keeping with the spirit of the library, and we thank him for generously sharing his invaluable knowledge and research with us in our private meetings.

Another tremendous work on our library was carried out by Bekir Şahin and his team from the Konya Manuscripts Institution, Konya Yazma Eserler Kurumu, in 2008-2010, when nearly 300.000 digital images of the library inventory were taken. The printed book prepared by Bekir Şahin, Faruk Ağartan and Selahattin Uygur and published in 2013 by the Islamic Foundation for the Study of History, Art and Culture (ISAR) is the first catalog of the Hafız Ahmed Agha Library manuscript collection of this extent.

According to the original inventory attached to the Vakfiye, the categories and the number of the manuscripts -- quantities in the original inventory list – number of missing items in the current inventory -- are as follows:

According to the table and the original manuscript list, the number of seal-bearing manuscripts in the Hâfız Ahmed Agha Library is 828. The reason why this figure was shown as 826 in the Annex of the Vakfiye is that a two-volume Qur'an was counted as a single work and another volume was left at Murat Reis Tekke where the manuscripts were stored during the construction of the Library. The total number of missing works in the categories shown in the table is 22. Accordingly, the number of works in the original collection of the Hâfız Ahmed Agha Library, which was initially 828, is 806 today. Together with the 459 manuscripts donated to the library after Hâfız Ahmed Agha’s death, the library collection has a total of 1265 manuscripts.

The Foundation has initiated an ambitious digital library project to bring together the manuscript collection of Hâfız Ahmed Agha with interested researchers and manuscript enthusiasts and to open the collection to online access for the general public. This project, which is expected to take two years, will be a remarkable collaboration between our Foundation and a partner NGO from Rhodes with an international participation of specialists in Near Eastern languages who are fluent in Ottoman, Arabic and Persian, experts in manuscript research and experts in digital cataloguing of libraries. In the same context, it is planned to rehabilitate the condition of the manuscripts in our Library, especially those in need of repair in their bindings, with an intent to build a temporary on-site restoration laboratory and workshop.

With the digitization of our library, we aim not only to provide scholars and library aficionados with remote access to the manuscripts, but also initiate mindful events to increase awareness for the ancestral cultural heritage on both sides of the Aegean and around the world and we hope the project will be a modest contribution to sustainable peace and friendship in Aegean waters.

Developments related to the digitization of the Hafız Ahmed Agha Library will be announced on ourwebsite www.fethipasavakfi.com. When our digital manuscript collection is ready to be accessed online on our dedicated library website www.hafizahmedaga.com, both sites will allow access to one another.

We would also like to commemorate the Hafiz-ı Kütüb (Librarian) veterans whose names are recorded in the 20th century history of the Hafız Ahmed Agha Library in Rhodes and note the date of our library's transformation into a museum:

Following his service as the Hafız-ı Kütüb for over 40 years, Şeyh Abdullah passed away in 1909 and was succeeded by Danazade Yusuf Dana Efendi. Mahmud Kemal Efendi and Koca Hafız Mustafa Efendi followed. Hafız Ibrahim Edhem Efendi took the position in 1923 and following his appointment as the Mufti of Rhodes in 1928, Çankazade Mustafa Lütfi Efendi became the Hafız-ı Kütüb until 1950. The last Hafız-ı Kütüb of the Hafız Ahmed Agha library was Hoca Mahmud Kemal, who was appointed in 1950 and served until his death in 1963. We remember our Hafiz-i Kütüb veterans with gratitude.

After the death of Hoca Mahmud Kemal, Muhiddin Rifat Bey from Rhodes, an advisor of the Foundation and a family friend invited Fatma Saide Argeşo, the grandmother of our Mutevelli Fatma Leyla Tuten and the family elderly then, to Rhodes and presented her the library inventory on June 20, 1963. This day marks the date when the Library ceased to operate as a library and was transformed into a museum for the public.