A working library is an exploration of—and advocate for—
the reading experience. by Mandy Brown

The phrase “a working library” refers to a collection of texts on a given subject, for the purpose of an academic or professional work. So, people speak of a working library on Proust, for example, or on psychotherapy. This working library differs in that the subject is reading itself: the library exists for its own sake and no other.

Of the many ideas at play here, the most significant is my belief that every book is connected to many other books, such that no book can or should be considered in isolation. When you read a book, you bring to it all the other books you’ve read (and been affected by), so your reading of it is necessarily unique. Furthermore, the act of reading predates the form of the book—and will most likely outlive it; as such, this site aims to explore the ways we read, and how they are changing.

Great book design is invisible; it gives form to the text such that you could imagine the words no other way. It makes a graceful entrance, and then disappears as you read. I have sought to achieve these same qualities with the design of this site, though I believe it has been an asymptotic approach. It is likely that I will experiment with the design as time goes by, such that neither the form nor the content of the site are immutable.

Mandy Brown is a designer, writer, editor, and publisher, with expertise on web design, typography, and editorial strategy. She is co-founder and editor for A Book Apart and a former contributing editor for A List Apart. At Typekit, she serves as Communications Director and writes frequently for the Typekit blog.

An accomplished writer and speaker, Mandy has appeared on The Big Web Show, and spoken for Confab, AIGA/NY, and True University. She’s been interviewed by Fast Company and The Great Discontent and written for A List Apart and Contents, among others.

Mandy lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Keith, and spends her days at Studiomates.

The main typeface is Chaparral, designed by Carol Twombly. Small sidenotes and the like are set in DejaRip by Anatoletype. Both are displayed using Typekit.

A Working Library is powered by Expression Engine and hosted by Media Temple. I can happily recommend both. I used TextMate and Transmit to develop the templates.

I do most of my writing in Writeboards within my Backpack account; it’s an excellent way to keep track of ideas no matter where you are (though I still fancy scribbling on paper, as well).