The Open Library... command (in menu File) brings a new library into Electric from disk. These disk files are in a private binary format (that is, not readable outside of Electric).

You can also use the open-library icon from the tool bar. |

By default Electric searches for libraries in the working directory, absolute file path references, and Electric's LIB directory. Users can specify additional directories to search for Libraries using a file called "LIBDIRS" placed in the working directory. This file specifies additional paths to search for library files. The file has the following syntax:

`* <comments>
include <another_LIBDIRS_file>
<library_directory>`

Paths may be absolute or relative.

Besides Electric libraries, it is possible to read circuit descriptions that are in other formats with the Import command (in menu File).:

- Readable Dump... is an Electric-specific format that captures the entire database, but in an editable text format. Because it is text, it is slower to read than Electric's binary files, and takes up more space on disk. However, it can be transferred between machines more reliably and can be edited if necessary.
- Text Cell Contents... is used to read a text file into a text cell. The current window must be a textual view (such as VHDL, Verilog, documentation, etc.) . See Section 4-10 for more on text windows.