GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT
People use the library for various reasons and to satisfy different needs. Some use the virtual
library specifically to read; others use it for research; and still others use it to communicate and
share information. The 21st century library, therefore, emphasizes access rather than
ownership. In this vein, the library user needs to take more responsibility in locating and
retrieving information from the library's collections than they have done in the traditional library
enterprise. It was discovered in this paper that the traditional library has been replaced with an
expanded vision of itself, one that encompasses traditional values and features but extends
outward to include the vastness of free and licensed digital resources as well as spaces and
services that are entirely people-focused. It is universally agreed that every individual, whether
literate or not, has an information need. It was generally concluded in this paper that no matter
what people use the library for, the fundamental truth is that it is information-related. The
modern library saves the time of the library professional and the end user and makes the library
service smooth and effective. But without a traditional library, there would be no modern library,
no concise phrase that captures our past, and no thumbnail of our future. One of the
recommendations made in this paper was that in this our 21st century it pertinent to create
replace the traditional libraries with the modern ones where an application of ICTs in libraries is
made paramount because it facilitates effective control in libraries over the collection, in-house
work flow and delivery of user services through Integrated Library Management System (ILM's).
KEYWORDS: Library, Modern Library and Library Users.