The present situation of public libraries and thepolicies adopted concerning public libraries in the western world and Turkey have been surveyed based on some news items, official policy papers and professional literature for the purpose of reviewing Turkish public library policy using a comparative approach. The findings of the study indicates that Turkey seems to be following the same principles with Europe in broad terms. However, it has been concluded that the full potential of the public libraries are not likely to be utilized because of the oversight of the gap in their service level compared to their European counterparts all these decades, and also because of emphasizing the cultural function of the public libraries rather than the role they can play in transitioning to knowledge society, contributing to closing the gap between the rich and the poor, helping with social inclusion and contributing to lifelong learning.