Hyundai Card, the nation’s second-largest credit card operator known for its dedication to style and design, recently opened a travel-themed library in Cheongdam-dong to offer its customers a respite from their daily routines.

This new facility is part of the company’s design-inspired library project, the first of which was the Design Library central Seoul established in February 2013.

“The essence of traveling is to be inspired and to experience new horizons, and this is very much in line with Hyundai Card’s vision,” said an official of Hyundai Card.

The 14,700 travel-related books, carefully selected by four professional book curators, have been classified by themes and regions, according to officials.

“The books were chosen based on seven principles ― that they should be inspiring, wide-ranging, useful, thorough, influential, timeless and aesthetic,” the official said.

The vast collection includes the full set of the National Geographic, as well as the world’s first and only tourism geographical journal Imago Mundi, city maps of 90 major tourist cities, and the standard dictionaries of 111 languages used around the world.

In order to inspire potential travelers, design objects such as airport direction boards from the 1950s, vintage globes, and animal-shaped African stools have been placed in every corner of the library, according to officials.

“The Travel Library should not just be a channel of collecting travel data, but rather the very first step of travel, which is curiosity and inspiration,” said Katayama Masamichi, the interior designer in charge.

The Travel Library is open from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays.

Hyundai Card users are allowed eight free entrances per month and then pay 5,000 won from the ninth visit.

Detailed information may be found on the website (library.hyundaicard.com).

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)