The Nature of

a Modern
Library
 The Modern Library has played a
significant role in American cultural
life for the better part of a century.
For decades, young Americans cut
their intellectual teeth on Modern
Library books. The series shaped their
tastes, educated them, provided
them with a window on the world.
Many of the countrys celebrated
writers are quick to attest that they
grew up with the Modern Library.
 The Modern Library was founded in 1917 by Boni and Liveright, one of the most
important publishing houses of the early 1920s.
The Modern Library originally published only hardbound books.
In 1950, it began publishing the Modern Library College Editions,
From 1955 to 1960, the company published a high quality, numbered paperback
series, but discontinued it in 1960, when the series was merged into the newly
acquired Vintage paperbacks group.
In 1992, on the occasion of the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary,
Random House embarked on an ambitious project to refurbish the series. We
revived the torchbearer emblem that Cerf and Klopfer commissioned in 1925
from Lucian Bernhard. The Promethean bearer of enlightenment (known
informally around the old Modern Library offices as the "dame running away
from Bennett Cerf") was redesigned several times over the years, most notably
by Rockwell Kent.
In 1998, novelist David Ebershoff became the Modern Library's new Publishing
Director. Ebershoff managed the imprint until 2005, when he resigned to
concentrate on his own writing and to become editor-at-large at Random
House.In September 2000, the Modern Library initiated a newly designed
Paperback Classics series. Six new titles are published in the series on the
second Tuesday of each month.
Role of modern Libraries
Modern library services should promote knowledge creation rather
than knowledge consumption*. Unlike the library services of the past
that focused on distributing books and research materials and a one-
sided provision of information and resources, the modern library
creates a space where patrons engage with informationprocess it,
reflect on it, have conversations about it, and develop new ideas,
conversations, and opportunities as a result of it.
Though libraries do play a valuable role in bringing the world to the
community, they should focus even more on bringing the community
to itself*. Modern libraries are community centersthey should
reflect the needs, personality, and nuance of the community(ies) they
service, and serve as a glue to bring disparate members of the
community together.
Best practices in Monitoring and Evaluation tell us to focus on impact
rather than outcomes.* Similarly, the modern library should not
assess its value based on the quantity of services provided or number
of people that walk through their doorbut rather based on the true,
long-term, substantive impact on the lives and livelihoods of
community members.
 Modern libraries (and the futuristic building is
not a must to make a library modern) are
shaping the way we learn things and enjoy
books in the digital age. They offer access to
books in every
As you will see, libraries around the world are
heading into the future, creating for their
patrons a more dynamic, multi-level
environment for learning and pleasure
possible form and format.
 Here are some
Modern Libraries
from around the
world:
Yale University Beinecke Rare Book Library, United
States
one of the worlds largest libraries devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts.
In total, the library presently holds 500,000 volumes and several million
manuscripts.
 Stuttgart City Library, Germany
over $100 million
The heart and core of the library follows the design of the ancient pantheon.
The gallery hall is a five-story space, in a form of a square and surrounded by shelves of
books.
The interesting thing is that the word library is displayed in four languages (German,
English, Arabic, and Korean) on the outside walls.
 Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Canada

The building was opened in 1973.

he library has grown to approximately 700,000 volumes and 3,000
linear metres of manuscript holdings.
 Biblioteca Jos Vasconcelos, Mexico
often called megabiblioteca (megalibrary)
Built for $98 million, the library opened in May 2006 and
was claimed one of the most advanced constructions of the
21st century.
 Nam June Paik Library, South Korea
this ultra-modern public library was designed by Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin
Moon as a multi-functional spatial device, which redefines the relationship between
library users and information.
In contrast to the conventional library, Nam June Paik Library aims to promote
non-linear and random access to information, and its production beyond the
prescribed consumption. Through spontaneous expression and juxtaposition of
ideas, the consumer of information becomes the producer, and the static contents
of the library turn dynamic.