The library was founded by Margarita Ivanovna Rudomino in 1921 in an old building in central Moscow. It opened as a small Neophilological Library that started with a collection of only 100 books in German, French and English located on the 5th floor of the building. It was not the first special library in the Soviet Union preceded by the Fundamental Library of the Social Libraries in 1918 and the State Central Scientific Medical Library in 1919. Since 1975, the profile of the library has included fiction, foreign literature on the Humanities, arts, foreign countries and reference publications. The main library building is located in Moscow at the Yauza Bank, opposite the high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment. Unlike other Central Moscow scientific libraries, the library is intended for readers from sixteen years old. For younger readers (from 5 to 16 years), there is a children's room. Nicknamed "the Foreigner", the library has an extensive stock of humanities literature. Compared to Moscow's other main libraries, such as the
Russian State Library and the
State Public Historical Library of Russia, the library offers relative quick access to books from its depository, just 15–20 minutes. It is said that it is one of the world's most important libraries. ==Directors==