Sept. 17, 2016
Pinar Arcan, 73, librarian at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, died Sept. 17, 2016 at Georgetown Hospital. She had cancer.
Ms. Arcan was born in Istanbul, Turkey and came to the United States with her father when she was 13. She became a U.S. citizen while keeping her dual citizenship with Turkey.
She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1967 and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She also earned a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Maryland in 1970, and a Master’s degree in Library Science from The Catholic University of America in 1989.
She worked at the Textile Museum before joining the DC Public Library staff in 1994. She spent most of her career at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library. She was very active in Turkish-American associations, as well as the American Library Association.
She is survived by her aunt Handan Ertuğrul of Istanbul, Turkey. Her father Mustafa Necati Arcan and mother Perran Uran Arcan predeceased her in Istanbul.
In Washington and beyond, she touched many lives, was surrounded by friends and colleagues, and will be greatly missed.
Obituary thanks to Joan Strickler Weeks
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Our dearly loved and respected coworker, Pınar Arcan, passed away on September 17th, 2016. Please join us at the historic MLK Jr. Memorial Library, where she worked for many years, to celebrate her life and legacy. There will be an open mic opportunity to share stories about Pınar, poetry, song, photos, and more. Light refreshments will be provided.
Melinda Maccall, Maggie Gilmore, Lauren Welch, Joan Weeks and Diane Mohr have contributed to organizing this celebration. A special thanks to DCPL Administrators for allowing us to use the facility after hours, to Public Safety for extending their day, and to Facilities staff who will help with the event.
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Pınar ate with Joan (T-9) Strickler Weeks and John Weeks, and us, Sandy (T-13) and Charlie Anderson, at the 2015 Cumhuriyet Bayram Dinner for DC, Virginia, and Maryland. At Pınar’s suggestion, Charlie established a website to display his photos and had business cards printed.
Joan and I met her through her father, Necati Arcan. He was teaching Turkish classes in Washington, DC that we attended when we returned from service in 1967 & 68. Joan and Pınar met again, and became fast friends as they both worked for the Library of Congress, and the District of Columbia Public Library. They were companions to Library conventions traveling to sometimes different nations.
At our dinner in 2015, she presented a framed photo from the D.C. Folklife Festival of Dave Weinman, John Wintrol, Linda Scheffer and myself, and I promised to make copies and share them.
–from Sandy Anderson
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Notice from The Washington Post, November 15, 2016:
Pinar Arcan, librarian
Pinar Arcan, 73, a librarian who had spent the past 22 years at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, died Sept. 17 at a hospital in the District. The cause was cancer, said a friend and colleague, Joan Weeks.
Ms. Arcan, a resident of Washington, was born in Ankara and emigrated to the United States when she was 13. She was a receptionist at the Textile Museum in Washington from 1974 until joining the library. She was a volunteer at the American-Turkish Association of Washington.