To provide a page turning mechanism which can certainly turn pages of books with different sizes, and a book scanning apparatus.

A CPU 111 actuates a reference side arm vertical motor 44 through a motor drive circuit 105, brings down a vertical arm 46, and moves a pressing part 51A at the tip of the reference side pressing arm 51 toward the slantingly inside direction by pressing it against the anterior corner of a page 122 to be turned over. At the same time, the CPU 111 actuates the moving side arm vertical motor 73 through the motor drive circuit 105, brings down a vertical arm 72, and moves a pressing part 77A at the tip of the moving side pressing arm 77 toward the slantingly inside direction by pressing it against outer side edge of the page 122 to be turned over. The CPU 111 approaches a telescopic arm 97 of a telescopic hand 13 into the bulging part 123 of the page to be turned over formed of the pressing part 51A and the pressing part 77A.