View source for Low Memorial Library

{{Short description|Building at Columbia University in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                           = Low Memorial Library
| designated_nrhp_type           = December 23, 1987<ref name=nris/>
| designated_other1              = New York State Register of Historic Places
| designated_other1_date         = September 17, 1982<ref name="Cultural Resource Information System"/>
| designated_other1_number       = 06101.000391
| designated_other1_abbr         = NYSRHP
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| designated_other2_color        = #FFE978
| designated_other2_link         = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
| designated_other2_abbr         = NYCL
| designated_other2_number       = 0304, 1118
| designated_other2_date         = '''Exterior:''' September 20, 1966<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/LOW-LIBRARY--COLUMBIA.pdf |title=Low Memorial Library |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |date=September 20, 1966 |access-date=January 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803164751/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/LOW-LIBRARY--COLUMBIA.pdf |archive-date=August 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><br>'''Rotunda interior:''' February 3, 1981<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=1}}</ref>
| designated_other2_name         = New York City Landmark
| mpsub                          =
| refnum                         = 87002599
| visitation_year                =
| visitation_num                 =
| added                          = December 23, 1987<ref name=nris/>
| architecture                   = [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]
| nrhp_type                      = nhl
| architect                      = [[Charles Follen McKim]] of [[McKim, Mead, and White]]<ref name="nycland" />
| built                          = 1894–1897<ref name="nycland" />
| coordinates                    = {{Coord|40|48|30|N|73|57|43|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=it}}
| nearest_city                   =
| location                       = Campus of [[Columbia University]], [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.
| map_caption                    = Location of Low Memorial Library in [[Manhattan]]
| map_label                      = Low Memorial Library
| mapframe         = yes
| mapframe-frame-width = 300
| mapframe-frame-height = 300
| mapframe-marker  = building
| mapframe-zoom    = 13
| image_size                     = 300px
| image                          = Low Memorial Library Columbia University College Walk Court Yard 05.jpg
| caption                        = Low Memorial Library in April 2012
| alt                            = The main façade of Low Memorial Library as seen from the south
}}

The '''Low Memorial Library''' (nicknamed '''Low''') is a building at the center of [[Columbia University]]'s [[Morningside Heights]] campus in [[Upper Manhattan]] in [[New York City]]. The building, located near [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th Street]] between [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and [[Amsterdam Avenue (Manhattan)|Amsterdam Avenue]], was designed by [[Charles Follen McKim]] of the firm [[McKim, Mead & White]]. The building was constructed between 1895 and 1897 as the [[Columbia University Libraries|university's central library]], although it has contained the university's central administrative offices since 1934. Columbia University president [[Seth Low]] funded the building with $1&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|1|1895}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) and named the edifice in memory of his father, [[Abiel Abbot Low]]. Low's [[facade]] and interior are [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|New York City designated landmarks]], and the building is also designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]].

Low is arranged in the shape of a [[Greek cross]]. Three sets of stairs on the library's south side lead to a [[colonnade]] with a frieze describing its founding. The steps contain [[Daniel Chester French]]'s sculpture ''[[Alma Mater (New York sculpture)|Alma Mater]]'', a university symbol. The library is four stories tall, excluding a ground-level basement. The building's raised first floor has an entrance vestibule, as well as an [[ambulatory]] around an octagonal [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]], which leads to offices on the outer walls. The rotunda contains a sky-blue plaster dome and four Vermont granite columns on each of its four sides. The library's [[Library stack|stack]]s could store one-and-a-half million volumes; the east wing hosted the [[Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library|Avery Architectural Library]] and the north wing hosted Columbia's [[Arthur W. Diamond Law Library|law library]].

The library was built as part of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, which was developed in the 1890s according to a master plan by McKim. When Low Library was completed, it was poorly suited for library use, becoming overcrowded from the early 20th century. Low's central location, however, made it a focal point of the university's campus. Following the completion of the much larger [[Butler Library]] in 1934, the Low Memorial Library was converted to administrative offices.

==Site==
Low Memorial Library is at the center of [[Columbia University]]'s [[Morningside Heights]] campus in [[Manhattan]], New York City.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maps & Directions |url=https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/butler/directions.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |website=Columbia University Libraries |archive-date=June 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618093911/https://www.library.columbia.edu/libraries/butler/directions.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NPS p. 2">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=2}}</ref><ref name="nycland" /> The building's official address is 535 West 116th Street, though the section of [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th Street]] between [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] to the west and [[Amsterdam Avenue (Manhattan)|Amsterdam Avenue]] to the east is part of the private College Walk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Building Information |url=https://www.facilities.columbia.edu/building-information/685 |access-date=September 23, 2021 |website=Columbia University Facilities |archive-date=June 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613002626/https://www.facilities.columbia.edu/building-information/685 |url-status=live}}</ref> Low is raised above the northern portion of the campus, which itself is a terrace above the South Court to the south.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=132–133}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=78}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> The library building occupies the highest point of the original campus.<ref>{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895279/lavish-gifts-to-columbia/ 1]}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|pp=188–189}}</ref><ref name="p88783522">{{cite magazine |date=March 1, 1897 |title=The New Library Building at Columbia University, New York |volume=23 |page=37 |id={{ProQuest|88783522}} |magazine=Scientific American Building Edition |number=3}}</ref>

The building is surrounded by [[Miller Theatre]] and [[Lewisohn Hall]] to the southwest; [[Earl Hall]] to the west; Mathematics and [[Havemeyer Hall|Havemeyer]] Halls to the west; Uris Hall to the north; [[Schermerhorn Hall|Schermerhorn]], Avery, and Fayerweather Halls to the northeast; [[St. Paul's Chapel (Columbia University)|St. Paul's Chapel]] to the east; and [[Buell Hall|Buell]], [[Philosophy Hall|Philosophy]], and Kent Halls to the southeast.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 7, 2015 |title=Maps and Directions – Morningside Heights |url=https://cufo.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/morningsidemap_2015aug-7.pdf |access-date=September 24, 2021 |website=Visitors Center |publisher=Columbia University |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116073600/https://cufo.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/morningsidemap_2015aug-7.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Earl Hall and St. Paul's Chapel are both designed along the same west–east axis as Low.<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 409">{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=409}}</ref> This arrangement is part of [[McKim, Mead & White]]'s design for the campus.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=3}}; {{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=409}}</ref>

===Low Library steps===
[[File:Columbia University 01.jpg|thumb|alt=steps leading up to the building as seen from College Walk|The stairs leading to Low are a popular meeting area for Columbia students and are also used for commencement, speeches, and other events.]]

Two flights of steps connect the terrace to the South Court;<ref>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1899|p=86}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=2|ps=.}}</ref> the library proper is approached by another flight above the terrace.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> Known as "the Steps", "Low Steps", and occasionally "Low Beach", they are a popular meeting area for Columbia students.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dober |first=Richard P. |title=The Steps at Low Library |url=http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814190951/http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf |archive-date=August 14, 2011 |access-date=April 11, 2011 |publisher=Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates, Inc.}}</ref> They also serve as a connection between the northern and southern sections of Columbia's campus.<ref name="nyt19870807" />

One {{cvt|325|to|327|ft|adj=on|abbr=out}} wide flight leads from the South Court to an intermediate landing, and a narrower, {{cvt|134|to|140|ft|adj=on|abbr=out}} leads from the intermediate landing to the terrace.<ref>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1899|p=86}}; {{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]|ps=.}}</ref> The narrower flight itself has an intermediate landing<ref name="nyt19870807">{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=August 7, 1987 |title=New York City Out-Of-Doors; Cavorting on the Great Urban Staircases |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/07/arts/new-york-city-out-of-doors-cavorting-on-the-great-urban-staircases.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104010650/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/07/arts/new-york-city-out-of-doors-cavorting-on-the-great-urban-staircases.html |url-status=live}}</ref> containing ''[[Alma Mater (New York sculpture)|Alma Mater]]'', a sculpture by [[Daniel Chester French]]<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=133}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=2}}</ref> that depicts a woman, personifying the traditional image of the university as an ''[[alma mater]]''.<ref name=Durante2007/> Hidden in the statue's leg is an owl symbolizing knowledge and learning; according to college superstition, the first member of the incoming class to find the owl will become class [[valedictorian]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Richman |first=Michael |title=Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor |publisher=Preservation Press |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-89133-048-6 |publication-place=Washington, D.C. |pages=90–96 |oclc=9044452}}</ref><ref name=Durante2007>{{cite book |last=Durante |first=Dianne |title=Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan : A Historical Guide |publisher=New York University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8147-1986-2 |publication-place=New York |page=230 |oclc=70839780}}</ref> The centers of the stairs are slightly curved upward to remove the impression they were sagging.<ref>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1899|p=82}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=195}}</ref> As a result, the center of each step is about {{cvt|3.5|in|cm|abbr=out}} taller than the extreme ends.<ref name="AR p. 86">{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1899|ps=.|p=86}}</ref> Smaller sets of staircases connect the intermediate landing to passages at terrace level on the west and east.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3">{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]|ps=.}}</ref>

Architecture critic [[Paul Goldberger]] said of the steps in 1987: "The building itself, for all the power of its immense scale and huge dome, seems almost to recede, deferring to the stairs before it."<ref name="nyt19870807" /> During [[Columbia University commencement]] ceremonies, Columbia's "graduation mace" is customarily carried down the stairs.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 16, 2021 |title=An Old Tradition for New Graduates |url=https://news.columbia.edu/content/graduation-mace |access-date=September 25, 2021 |website=Columbia News |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420185637/https://news.columbia.edu/content/graduation-mace |url-status=live}}</ref> The stairs have been used for other speeches, such as a 1991 speech by novelist [[Salman Rushdie]] after the [[Fatwa on Salman Rushdie|Iranian government targeted him for assassination]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Daniels |first=Lee A. |date=May 14, 1992 |title=Commencement; President of Columbia Recalls Rushdie's Plight |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/14/nyregion/commencement-president-of-columbia-recalls-rushdie-s-plight.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115193605/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/14/nyregion/commencement-president-of-columbia-recalls-rushdie-s-plight.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Low_Memorial_Library_from_above_04_14_17.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|South elevation, from the upper stories of [[Butler Library]]]]

The Low Memorial Library was designed by [[Charles Follen McKim]] of McKim, Mead & White and was built between 1894 and 1897.<ref name="nycland">{{cite nycland |page=194}}</ref><ref name="aia5" /><ref name="NYCL p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=3}}</ref> McKim was assisted in the design by [[William M. Kendall]], [[Austin W. Lord]], and [[Egerton Swartwout]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=126}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=192}}</ref> The library was designed in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical style]], incorporating many elements of Rome's [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]]<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=3}}</ref> and [[Baths of Caracalla]].<ref name="Dolkart p. 127">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=127}}</ref> It was funded by [[Seth Low]], the [[president of Columbia University]] and later the [[mayor of New York City]], in memory of his father [[Abiel Abbot Low]].<ref name="Dolkart p. 138">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=138}}</ref>

===Form===
Low is arranged in the shape of a [[Christian cross variants|Greek cross]], is aligned with the [[Manhattan street grid]], and contains beveled corners. The main walls of the building's Greek cross correspond to the four [[cardinal direction]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=127}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=2}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=177|ps=.}}</ref> The cross has a maximum width of {{cvt|192|ft|m|abbr=out}}.<ref name="SA p. 200" /><ref name="p88783522" /> The Greek cross layout had previously been used in several libraries, including the main library of [[New York University]] (NYU)'s [[The Bronx|Bronx]] campus (now [[Gould Memorial Library]] on the campus of [[Bronx Community College]]) that was designed by McKim's colleague [[Stanford White]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=128}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=188}}</ref> Low's arrangement, like that of Gould's, is partly inspired by those of the [[Library of Congress]] and the [[British Library]]. Unlike these other libraries, Low faces away from much of the campus that was built around it.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 11, 1981 |title=Town Hall |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1087.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005147/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1087.pdf |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |access-date=January 1, 2021 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |page=6}}</ref>

The building is topped by a round dome<ref name="Dolkart p. 127; NPS p. 2"/> made of brick, which is clad on the outside with limestone, and on the inside with steel framing and plaster.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> The dome has a radius of {{cvt|52|ft|m|abbr=out}} and a maximum thickness of {{cvt|48|in|cm|abbr=out}} at the bottom, tapering to {{cvt|9|in|cm|abbr=out}} at the pinnacle.<ref>{{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|pp=200–202|ps=.}}</ref> The steel frame under the dome is made of two {{cvt|1|in|cm|adj=on|abbr=out}} thick and {{cvt|12|in|cm|adj=on|abbr=out}} wide steel bars. The ceiling of the rotunda beneath is a false ceiling that hangs about {{cvt|16|ft|m|abbr=out}} below the inner face of the dome.<ref name="SA p. 202">{{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=202|ps=.}}</ref> Otherwise, the dome is made of stone that is designed to be self-supporting.<ref name="p88783522" /><ref name="SA p. 202" /> The dome was inspired by [[The Rotunda (University of Virginia)|the Rotunda]], the main library designed by [[Thomas Jefferson]] at the [[University of Virginia]], and is also less directly evocative of the dome above the Pantheon.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=127–128}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=193}}</ref>

===Facade===
[[File:Library of Columbia University by Rangilo.JPG|thumb|alt=inscription on the frieze above the columns, with the text "Library of Columbia University"|Frieze inscription]]

The {{cvt|12|ft|adj=on|abbr=out}} high base of Low is made of granite.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=139}}; {{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> An {{cvt|86|ft|m|abbr=out|adj=on}} wide staircase with 22<ref name="SA p. 200" /> or 26 steps<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> leads from the terrace to the main entrance [[portico]] on the building's south facade. The highest step, the [[stylobate]] of the portico, corresponds to the top of the base.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> The entrance portico consists of an [[Ionic order|Ionic]]-style [[colonnade]] of ten columns supporting a cornice and attic.<ref name="Dolkart p. 127; NPS p. 2">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=127}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=2|ps=.}}</ref> Each of the columns is {{cvt|35|ft|m|abbr=out}} tall<ref>{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> and has a diameter of {{cvt|4|ft|m|abbr=out}}.<ref name="SA p. 200" /> The frieze above the columns reads: "Library of Columbia University".<ref>{{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> An inscription above the colonnade describes the university's founding.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> It reads:<ref name="RC p. 361">{{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref>
:King's College Founded in the Province of New York
:By Royal Charter in the Reign of George&nbsp;II
:Perpetuated as Columbia College by the People of the State of New York
:When They Became Free and Independent
:Maintained and Cherished from Generation to Generation
:For the Advancement of the Public Good and the Glory of Almighty God<ref name="RC p. 361"/>

The building was designed with 150 windows, the smallest of which measures {{cvt|10|by|4|ft|m}}.<ref name="nyt18941031" /> The upper section of the facade is clad in limestone,<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=139}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|pp=193–194}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> in contrast with the surrounding buildings, which are generally made of brick with limestone trim.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=139}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|pp=193–194|ps=.}}</ref> The west, north, and east walls are designed with [[pilaster]]s similar in design to the colonnade; the pilasters flank windows that are deeply set into the facade. The corners of the Greek cross also have deeply set windows. The roof of the Greek cross's "arms" is about {{cvt|70|ft|m|abbr=out}} above the ground level of the terrace.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" />

Above the top of the cross, Low's walls, which rise to {{cvt|100|ft}} above the surrounding terrace, are arranged as an octagonal drum supporting the dome.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> Each of the four main walls has large, half-round windows<ref name="Dolkart p. 127; NPS p. 2" /> that are either {{cvt|44|or|50|ft}} across and {{cvt|22|ft}} high,<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /><ref name="nyt18941031" /> and are evocative of the [[lunette]]s atop the Baths of Caracalla.<ref name="Dolkart p. 128">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=128}}</ref> The top of the dome is around {{cvt|135|ft}} above terrace level<ref name="p88783522" /><ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> and {{cvt|152|ft}} above the grade of what was formerly 116th Street.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" />

===Features<span class="anchor" id="Interior"></span>===
[[File:Columbia University Library, New York City. Snead Standard Stack in one of the third floor seminar rooms (fig. 155) LCCN2007682533 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Stacks in a third floor seminar room, 1915]]
Low has four stories. The ground level is a raised basement while the first floor is one story above ground.<ref>{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref> The first floor's interior consists of an entrance vestibule on the south side of the building that leads to an [[ambulatory]] surrounding a central [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]].<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|pp=5–6}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|pp=78–79}}</ref> Low's first floor shares design influences with the reading room at the Library of Congress's [[Thomas Jefferson Building]], the Administration Building at the [[World's Columbian Exposition]], and the nearby [[Grant's Tomb]].<ref>{{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=79}}; {{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=406}}</ref> The second floor had a gallery on the south arm and closed [[Library stack|stacks]] on the north, east, and west arms. The third floor was devoted entirely to lecture rooms.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" />

The library's stacks were built to store one-and-a-half million volumes. Graduate students used the open stacks and adjacent small reading rooms while undergraduates could use only the closed stacks, using the rotunda as a central reading room.<ref name="Passanti p. 78">{{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|p=78}}</ref> Eighteen small reading rooms were provided.<ref name="CU1901">{{cite book |author=Columbia University |url=https://archive.org/details/columbiauniversi00colu_2 |title=Columbia University: Kings College Founded in the Province of New York by Royal Charter in the Reign of George II Perpetuated as Columbia College |date=1901 |via=Internet Archive |publisher=Knickerbocker Press |page=3 |access-date=September 24, 2021}}</ref> [[Elmer E. Garnsey]] was hired to create the library's interior color scheme.<ref name="Dolkart p. 146">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=146}}</ref> {{as of|2010}}, the exhibition space in the building is open to the public from 9:00&nbsp;a.m. to 5:30&nbsp;p.m.<ref name=aia5/> Columbia students, staff, and faculty can book the spaces on the first floor for events.<ref name="Event Management">{{cite web |title=Low Library |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |url=https://eventmanagement.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Venues/FactSheets/Low-Library-Fact-Sheet.pdf |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516121511/https://eventmanagement.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Venues/FactSheets/Low-Library-Fact-Sheet.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|According to Columbia University's website, the Faculty Room, Burden Room, Rotunda, and Trustees' Room on the first story above ground are denoted as being on the "second floor". This considers the ground floor as the "first floor".<ref name="Event Management"/>}}

====Vestibule, president's room, and trustees' room====
[[File:Trustees room at Columbia University MG 0908.JPG|thumb|Trustees' room]]

Low's main entrance contains bronze and glass entrance doors leading to a double-height vestibule<ref name="NYCL p. 5; NPS p. 5">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> measuring {{cvt|30|by|33|ft}}.<ref name="RC p. 361" /> The original doors were made of oak; McKim had proposed bronze doors be used but Low rejected the doors as "out of harmony with our ideals and with the ideals of my father".<ref name="Dolkart p. 144" /> At the entryway are bronze busts of [[Zeus]] and [[Apollo]].<ref name="NYCL p. 5; RC p. 361">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref> The vestibule has a marble floor with red, rust, beige, and gray panels in an octagonal arrangement.<ref name="NPS p. 5">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> [[George W. Maynard]] sculpted eight panels with bronze reliefs depicting the twelve [[zodiac]] signs;<ref name="NYCL p. 5; RC p. 361" /> the panels were manufactured by John Williams and displayed at the [[World's Columbian Exposition]], after which they were donated to Columbia University.<ref name="Dolkart p. 144">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=144}}</ref> The vestibule contains a white marble bust of [[Pallas Athena]], which is modeled after ''Minerve du Collier'' at the [[Louvre]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=144}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref>

Oak doors on the west and east link to sets of four marble steps, which connect to the former offices of the president and the trustees, respectively.<ref name="NYCL p. 5; NPS p. 5" /> Above these doors are stone [[architrave]]s with molded [[Rais-de-cœur|leaf-and-dart]] motifs and [[lintel]]s with paneling. On either side of the doors are double-height limestone [[pilaster]]s with gilded [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]].<ref name="NYCL p. 5">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> Several portraits were hung in each room.<ref name="RC p. 361" /> The trustees' room to the east was decorated by the [[Herter Brothers]] and has oak paneling.<ref name="Dolkart p. 144" /> The center of the trustees' room has a Georgian-style [[fireplace mantel]], which contains a [[broken pediment]] holding an iron crown from [[Columbia College (New York)|King's College]], the predecessor of Columbia University. The mantel has a cornerstone from King's College's original building and a portrait of the college's founding president [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Samuel Johnson]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=144–145}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|pp=361–362|ps=.}}</ref>

The rest of the vestibule's walls have plaster panels bordered by green-and-gold acanthus-leaf motifs, and [[Course (architecture)|band courses]] with Greek [[fretwork]]. Each corner of the vestibule has a pilaster similar to those flanking the west and east doors, as well as a wrought-iron lamp. The south wall has a narrow balcony illuminated by a lattice of crossbars; the north wall is a double window above a set of four steps leading to the rotunda. Laurel leaves and medallions divide the vestibule's ceiling into nine [[coffer]]s.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> The central coffer has a bronze lantern above the Pallas Athena bust.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=144}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5|ps=.}}</ref>

====Ambulatory====
The ambulatory is an octagonal hallway around the rotunda<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|p=79}}</ref> consisting of alternating long and short passages; the long passages correspond to the cardinal directions while the shorter passages correspond to the [[intercardinal direction]]s.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> The floor has alternating marble squares and circles that are laid in hues of red, yellow, and black-and-white.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=146}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5|ps=.}}</ref> At the floor's center is a bronze [[Relief|''bas-relief'']] of the [[Heraldry of Columbia University|university's seal]].<ref name="NYCL p. 5" />

The walls of the long passages have [[Doric order|Doric]]-style limestone pilasters and orange plaster panels, bordered by leaf motifs and band course like those in the vestibule. There are also oak panels that correspond to the rotunda's former bookcases.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> The south hallway contains a pair of green, double-height, [[Connemara marble]] columns that screen it from the entrance vestibule.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=148}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref> The columns, each of which weighs {{cvt|25|ST|LT t}}, were quarried from the largest blocks of Connemara marble available when the library was built.<ref name="SA p. 200">{{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> The ceiling of the south hallway is divided into five coffers and a bronze lamp hangs from the outermost coffer on either side. The west, north, and east hallways have similar ceilings but are illuminated by three bronze lanterns.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> The north hall has a balcony while the south and east halls have gates to the rotunda.<ref name="NYCL pp. 5–6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|pp=5–6}}</ref>

Offices and additional libraries surrounded the ambulatory.<ref>{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|p=79}}</ref> At the center of the outer walls of the west, north, and east hallways are double wooden doors that lead to offices.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> Formerly, these doorways led to catalogue and specialized libraries.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=146}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|p=79}}</ref> The doors on the east hall led to the [[Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library|Avery Architectural Library]] while the north hall's doors led to the [[Arthur W. Diamond Law Library|law library]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=146}}; {{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895401/ 3]}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=200|ps=.}}</ref> The Avery Architectural Library's ceiling beams bore inscriptions of architects' names.<ref name="Dolkart p. 146" /> The west hall's doors led to the administrative offices,<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> and the west wing contained the periodical, catalogue, and delivery rooms.<ref>{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=28}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=202|ps=.}}</ref> The periodical room measured {{cvt|61|by|37|ft}} and had a two-story-high ceiling. There was also an exhibition room measuring {{cvt|39|by|54|ft}}.<ref name="RC p. 362" />

Decoration in the short passages is simple: The unornamented walls are made of plaster and have arched, recessed doorways flanked by simple pilasters. The halls have arched ceilings and are illuminated by bronze lamps on marble pedestals, below which are lions' heads and above which are glass globes. Staircases rise to the upper levels, which are adjacent to each of the short sections of the ambulatory.<ref name="NYCL p. 6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=6}}</ref>

====Rotunda====
{{multiple image
| align       = right
| direction   = horizontal
| total_width = 300
| image1      = Low Memorial Library Dome.png
| image2      = Low Library2.jpg
| alt1        = underside of the rotunda's dome as seen from ground level
| alt2        = black-and-white image of the rotunda as seen circa 1900–1910
| caption1    = Underside of dome
| caption2    = Seen {{circa|1900–1910}}
| footer      = After 1934, the building was converted to administrative use and the rotunda became a ceremonial space.
}}

The center of Low's first floor contains an octagonal rotunda, the library's former reading room.<ref name="NYCL p. 5; NPS p. 5" /> The rotunda has four long walls corresponding to the cardinal directions and four short walls corresponding to the intercardinal directions.{{efn|According to an 1898 ''[[Scientific American]]'' article, the "short diameter" between the longer walls is {{cvt|75|ft}} while the "long diameter" between the shorter walls was {{cvt|85|ft}}.<ref name="SA p. 200" /> According to a 1923 guidebook, the short diameter is {{cvt|73|ft}}.<ref name="RC p. 362" />}} The reading room contained circular tables, each of which was lit by a reading lamp.<ref>{{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=81}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194|ps=.}}</ref> The reading room's seats were arranged in four concentric rings.<ref name="AA p. 28">{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=28|ps=.}}</ref> Four columns adjoined a reference desk at the center of the rotunda. Above the columns was a decorative iron structure topped by a four-sided clock with a bronze sculpture of an eagle.<ref name="NYCL p. 4">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=4}}</ref>

Each of the rotunda's main walls includes four Vermont granite columns with gilt-bronze, Ionic-style capitals that screen the rotunda from the ambulatory.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=148}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=5}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> Each column is {{cvt|29|ft}} tall, supporting a third-story balcony,<ref name="RC p. 362">{{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=362|ps=.}}</ref> and each of the capitals weighs almost one ton.<ref name="SA p. 200" /> Vermont marble was chosen because it closely resembles Connemara marble, which could not be used for the rotunda due to the scarcity of large pieces of that material.<ref name="Dolkart pp. 147–148">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|pp=147–148}}</ref> Bookcases rising to eye level were originally laced between the columns to give the impression of an enclosed space.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=145–146}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=81|ps=.}}</ref> Depictions of Roman and Greek luminaries [[Demosthenes]], [[Euripides]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Augustus Caesar]] are placed on the balcony along the north wall.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=405–406}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=362|ps=.}}</ref> McKim personally funded he figure of Euripides.<ref name="Dolkart pp. 405–406">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|pp=405–406}}</ref> Twelve figures were planned for the other walls but these figures were never built.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|ps=.|p=6}}</ref>

The corners of the rotunda have large, limestone piers that serve as [[pendentive]]s for the rotunda's ceiling; the piers contain gold circles and have internal ducts.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=79|ps=.}}</ref> Inscriptions of the medieval sciences of Law, Philosophy, Medicine, and Theology decorate the piers.<ref name="NYCL p. 6; NPS p. 5">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> The tops of the pendentives are beveled.<ref name="Passanti p. 79">{{harvnb|Passanti|1977|ps=.|p=79}}</ref> The rotunda's piers also support vaults on each of the building's main walls, which include half-round windows.<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 3" /> During daylight hours, the lunette windows atop the walls provided sufficient illumination.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=149}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=202|ps=.}}</ref>

The rotunda's ceiling is {{cvt|105.5|ft|m|adj=|}} tall and {{cvt|73|ft}} across.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=362|ps=.}}</ref> The ceiling is a false dome made of plaster over steel mesh and is painted sky blue.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Scientific American|1898|p=202|ps=.}}</ref> The false dome's ribs are spaced {{cvt|4|ft|spell=in}} apart at the [[Springer (architecture)|springing]] of the arches.<ref name="SA p. 202" /> A sphere that reflected light from eight spotlight beams on the room's third-floor balconies at night was suspended from the ceiling.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=149}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=194}}</ref> The globe was intended to resemble the moon.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=149}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=81|ps=.}}</ref> The sphere was {{cvt|7|ft|spell=in}} across and hung from a steel, {{cvt|1/4|in|mm|spell=in|adj=on}} thick wire, giving the impression it floated in midair.<ref name="Dolkart p. 149">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=149}}</ref> It is not known whether the spotlights were ever used for their intended purpose but the sphere has since been removed.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=406}}</ref>

====Other stories====
A sub-basement contained heating and ventilating apparatus, and a storage room.<ref name="p88783522" /> There are doors at each of the basement's four corners.<ref>{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=28}}; {{harvnb|Rider|Cooper|1923|p=361|ps=.}}</ref> When the Low Memorial Library was operating as a library, students generally used these doors to enter the building because they were convenient entrances from the campus grounds.<ref name="AA p. 28" /> The basement had cloak rooms, the office of the superintendent of buildings and grounds, a sub-post office, a telegraph office, and telephone booths.<ref name="RC p. 361" /> It also contained a portion of the stacks,<ref>{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=28}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=151}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=4|ps=.}}</ref> which could store 150,000 volumes.<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /> A separate stack room served the law library in the north wing, to which it was connected by stairs.<ref>{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|pp=28–29|ps=.}}</ref>

The law library occupied the entire north wing, and the north side of the second story contained law collections. The east side had social sciences collections, with the Columbiana collection on the northeast corner and modern-language collections on the west side. The south wing, which is the top of the entrance vestibule, has only a balcony.<ref name="RC p. 362" /> The third-story balconies formerly held the open stacks,<ref>{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=29}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=6}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|1987|ps=.|p=5}}</ref> which were used by graduate students.<ref name="Passanti p. 79" /> The gallery stacks held 16,000 volumes.<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /> The third floor had history and philosophy collections, offices, workrooms,<ref name="RC p. 362" /> and 10 lecture halls.<ref name="SA p. 202" /> The layout of the second and third stories allowed different specialties to have seminar areas and private study rooms near the stacks corresponding to their subjects.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=19|ps=.}}</ref>

==History==
In 1890, through his family's wealth and social connections, Seth Low became Columbia University's president.<ref name="Broderick p. 392"/> The university's campus, which at the time was in [[Midtown Manhattan]],<ref name="Dolkart p. 115; Roth p. 190">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=115}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=190}}</ref> was quickly becoming cramped.<ref name="Broderick p. 392">{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|ps=.|p=392}}</ref> In April 1892, Columbia University acquired the former site of the [[Bloomingdale Insane Asylum]] between Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and 116th and 120th Streets in [[Morningside Heights]].<ref name="Dolkart p. 115; Roth p. 190"/> The next month,<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=117}}</ref> Low hired Charles Follen McKim, [[Charles C. Haight]], and [[Richard Morris Hunt]] as consultants to plan a new campus on the newly acquired site.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=393}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=117}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=190}}; {{harvnb|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=405}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=172|ps=.}}</ref> Low wanted the consultants to collaborate but the process became an [[architectural design competition]] in practice, with each architect preparing multiple plans in different styles.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|pp=14–15}}; {{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=393}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=118}}; {{harvnb|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|ps=.|p=405}}</ref> In April 1893 the architects presented their findings to the trustees.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=119}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=172|ps=.}}</ref> Columbia ultimately hired McKim to design the new Morningside Heights campus in late 1893.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=394}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=73}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=191}}; {{harvnb|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|p=405}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=173|ps=.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1893 |title=Plans for the New Columbia: Arrangement of Buildings at Riverside Heights |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/12/05/archives/plans-for-the-new-columbia-arrangement-of-buildings-at-riverside.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923172200/https://www.nytimes.com/1893/12/05/archives/plans-for-the-new-columbia-arrangement-of-buildings-at-riverside.html |url-status=live}}</ref> McKim was a relatively inexperienced architect at the time, but he had endowed a fellowship to the [[Columbia School of Architecture]] three years prior.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|ps=.|p=393}}</ref>

===Development===
====Planning====
[[File:Low Library Harper's Weekly.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|The final plan for Low Library, published in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' in 1894 on the eve of the building's construction]]

The center of the site was higher than its surroundings, leading McKim to develop a classical-style campus around the highest point.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=393}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|pp=188–189}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=173|ps=.}}</ref> Columbia's trustees approved the first iteration of McKim's campus plan in April<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=74}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=191}}</ref> or May 1894; the plan had a rectangular library building surrounded on either side by symmetrical rows of buildings.<ref name="Dolkart p. 126" /><ref name="p573921617" /> The library was to be built at the center of the campus, facing south toward a main entrance on 116th Street; there would also be a court to the north, an assembly hall to the west, and a chapel to the east.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=395}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=126}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=174|ps=.}}</ref><ref name="p573921617">{{cite news |date=May 13, 1894 |title=Columbia's New Home: Beautiful Grounds and Buildings to Be Prepared on Cathedral Heights |page=27 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|573921617}}}}</ref> In this plan, the pathways around the library were too narrow and the assembly hall, library, and chapel appeared to form a wall dividing the campus's north and south halves.<ref name="Dolkart p. 126">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=126}}</ref> Consequently, the plans underwent further refinement through mid-1894.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=126–127}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=191}}</ref> McKim, working with his colleagues Kendall, Lord, and Swartwout, considered circular and octagonal layouts for the library before deciding on a cruciform layout.<ref name="Roth p. 192">{{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=192}}</ref>

In July 1894 McKim wrote to his partner [[William Rutherford Mead]] saying though "the scheme for the Library has undergone many changes", he and his colleagues had devised a suitable revised plan.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=192}}</ref> The library would be placed on the site's highest point with a dome {{cvt|300|ft}} above the water level of the nearby [[Hudson River]], and would be surrounded by the other buildings on campus.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|pp=129–130}}</ref><ref name="nyt18941031">{{Cite news |date=October 31, 1894 |title=Plans of the New Columbia; President Low Tells of the Twelve Buildings Needed |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/10/31/archives/plans-of-the-new-columbia-president-low-tells-of-the-twelve.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923172104/https://www.nytimes.com/1894/10/31/archives/plans-of-the-new-columbia-president-low-tells-of-the-twelve.html |url-status=live}}</ref> To make the library stand out, McKim designed a grand stairway for the 116th Street frontage.<ref name="nyt18941031" /><ref name="Dolkart p. 129">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=129}}</ref> The assembly hall and chapel were moved from the library to the west and east, creating small courtyards on either side.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=129}}; {{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=81}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=193}}</ref> Seth Low had contemplated whether the other buildings should be ornately decorated so the trustees could approve of the design but McKim believed the library should have a simple-yet-grand style.<ref name="Bergdoll p. 17">{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=17|ps=.}}</ref> The trustees approved this proposal, under which the library would cost $700,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.7|1894}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}), in November 1894.<ref name="Bergdoll p. 17" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1894 |title=Columbia College's New Library.: Plans Approved by the Board of Trustees – Gifts to the University. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/11/06/archives/columbia-colleges-new-library-plans-approved-by-the-board-of.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923172159/https://www.nytimes.com/1894/11/06/archives/columbia-colleges-new-library-plans-approved-by-the-board-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 6, 1894 |title=The Plans for the Library Accepted: Meeting of the Columbia College Trustees for an Exhibition of the Models of the Proposed Buildings |page=8 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|573985764}}}}</ref> Later that month a model of the library was exhibited at the [[American Fine Arts Society]].<ref>{{cite news |date=November 17, 1894 |title=Columbia Alumni Meet: A Model of the Proposed New Library, And Plans of Other Buildings Admired – an Address by President Low |page=3 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|573979293}}}}</ref>

After plans for the library were approved, the trustees received bids for the construction of the library and surrounding buildings.<ref name="Roth p. 397">{{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=397}}</ref> At the time, Columbia had sufficient funds to construct a few buildings but not the library.<ref name="Dolkart p. 138" /> In May 1895 the construction contract was awarded to [[Norcross Brothers]].<ref name="Roth p. 397" /> A few days after the construction contract was awarded,<ref name="tribune18950517 p. 1">{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895279/lavish-gifts-to-columbia/ 1]|ps=.}}</ref> Seth Low donated $1&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|1|1895}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) to the library in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low. In exchange, the library would be named the Low Memorial Library.<ref>{{harvnb|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895|p=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85895279/lavish-gifts-to-columbia/ 1]}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=174|ps=.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1895 |title=Rich Gifts to Columbia: President Low Gives $1,000,000 For the New Library. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/05/07/archives/rich-gifts-to-columbia-president-low-gives-1000000-for-the-new.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923184007/https://www.nytimes.com/1895/05/07/archives/rich-gifts-to-columbia-president-low-gives-1000000-for-the-new.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The donation reportedly comprised a third of Seth Low's fortune.<ref>{{harvnb|Passanti|1977|p=76}}; {{harvnb|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|ps=.|p=406}}</ref> News media profusely praised the donation,<ref name="Dolkart p. 138" /> which was reported for several days on the front pages of the city's newspapers.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|pp=17–18|ps=.}}</ref> McKim thanked president Low for the donation: "If, when the Library building shall be completed, your confidence in our firm prove to not have been misplaced, I shall regard [the library] one of the greatest happinesses of my life."<ref name="Dolkart p. 138" />

====Construction====
[[File:Low Library (Visitor center), Columbia University.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Modern view of the rotunda]]

Seth Low asked McKim to draw designs for a library with a facade of marble, limestone, or brick and limestone.<ref name="Dolkart p. 139">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=139}}</ref> The initial plans called for a marble facade but Low had been hesitant to use such an expensive material, preferring instead to use brick for the library.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=17}}; {{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=395}}</ref> McKim had wanted to use limestone, a material with a "monumental character".<ref name="Bergdoll p. 17" /> Construction had started by June 18, 1895.<ref name="Roth p. 193">{{harvnb|Roth|1983|ps=.|p=193}}</ref> Initial work included excavation of the library's foundation.<ref name="Dolkart pp. 140–141">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|pp=140–141}}</ref> Seth Low wished to hold a [[cornerstone]]-laying ceremony in late 1895, but he postponed these plans after the groundbreaking for NYU's Gould Library that October{{snd}}he did not want to hold a similar event in such close succession.<ref name="Dolkart pp. 140–141" /> The Low Library's cornerstone was informally laid on December 7, 1895.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1895 |title=Columbia College's New Library; The Cornerstone Informally Laid – Addresses by President Seth Low and Bishop Potter. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/12/08/archives/columbia-colleges-new-library-the-cornerstone-informally-laid.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923184003/https://www.nytimes.com/1895/12/08/archives/columbia-colleges-new-library-the-cornerstone-informally-laid.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=December 8, 1895 |title=Columbia's New Library: Private Ceremony of the Laying of the Cornerstone |page=5 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|574121816}}}}</ref>

Construction of the library was delayed by disagreements over the dome's design.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=146–147}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194|ps=.}}</ref> When the walls were being constructed, McKim had planned to create the dome using concrete carried on iron trusses with limestone cladding.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|pp=146–147}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194|ps=.}}</ref> Columbia's architecture departmental head [[William Robert Ware]] argued such a design would not be "a real dome".<ref name="Dolkart p. 147">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=147}}</ref> McKim then proposed a [[Guastavino tile]] dome, to which Ware agreed. The Norcross Brothers then proposed an un-reinforced concrete dome they had planned themselves and McKim submitted plans to the [[New York City Department of Buildings]] (DOB). The DOB delayed issuing the permit until November 1895, likely in part because of the uncertainties over the new design.<ref name="Dolkart p. 147" /> By then, the architects feared cold weather would weaken the concrete, forcing the dome to be deferred until the following spring. Consequently, the dome was made of brick with an inner surface of metal lath and plaster, and a limestone exterior.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Roth|1983|p=194|ps=.}}</ref> The site of Columbia University's new campus was officially dedicated on May 2, 1896,<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 3, 1896 |title=New Site of Columbia; The University's Grounds Dedicated With Great Ceremony |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1896/05/03/archives/new-site-of-columbia-the-universitys-grounds-dedicated-with-great.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924135707/https://www.nytimes.com/1896/05/03/archives/new-site-of-columbia-the-universitys-grounds-dedicated-with-great.html |url-status=live}}</ref> by which time work on the library was rapidly progressing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 19, 1896 |title=The New Columbia Rising |pages=28 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85917867/the-new-columbia-rising/ |access-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924212256/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85917867/the-new-columbia-rising/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Seth Low had wanted all the library's columns to be made of Connemara marble, but because of their large diameters only two columns of that size could be quarried with the material available. NYU had purchased sixteen narrower Connemara marble columns for its own library; its architect, McKim's partner Stanford White, boasted about how Columbia's library had been unable to secure the same material.<ref>{{harvnb|Broderick|2010|p=396}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=147}}</ref> Columbia's two Connemara marble columns were placed at the entrance to the vestibule, where they were most prominent, and Vermont marble was used for the rest.<ref name="Dolkart pp. 147–148" /> An issue about inscriptions for the exterior friezes, which Low started to discuss at the end of 1896, arose.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=20}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=149|ps=.}}</ref> He devised some ideas for inscriptions during mid-1897, suggesting to McKim the inscriptions should describe Columbia's history.<ref name="Bergdoll p. 20">{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=20|ps=.}}</ref> The Columbia trustees disagreed on whether such inscriptions should be in English or Latin, as well as their locations. Ultimately, they gave McKim permission only for the inscription above the main entrance.<ref name="Dolkart p. 149" /> In June 1897 Columbia's existing library closed for three months for the relocation of the collection.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 5, 1897 |title=Removal of Columbia Library |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/06/05/archives/removal-of-columbia-library-to-be-closed-next-week-and-the-work.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924212258/https://www.nytimes.com/1897/06/05/archives/removal-of-columbia-library-to-be-closed-next-week-and-the-work.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Use as a library===
====Early years====
[[File:Low library 1897.jpg|thumb|alt=Black-and-white image of Low Library in 1897|Low Library was not yet complete when the new Columbia University campus opened on October 4, 1897.<ref name="nyt18971005" />]]
The new Columbia University campus opened on October 4, 1897.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=153}}</ref><ref name="nyt18971005">{{Cite news |date=October 5, 1897 |title=Columbia's Opening Day; Seth Low's Resignation as President Referred to a Committee Until Nov. 15 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/10/05/archives/columbias-opening-day-seth-lows-resignation-as-president-referred.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924212300/https://www.nytimes.com/1897/10/05/archives/columbias-opening-day-seth-lows-resignation-as-president-referred.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The opening was marked with a small ceremony in the library's reading room, during which Seth Low announced his resignation.<ref name="Dolkart p. 153">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=153}}</ref><ref name="nyt18971005" /> Low Library was not completed at the time; the power plant and other mechanical systems were not in operation,<ref name="nyt18971005" /> and the final details were still being installed through 1898.<ref name="Bergdoll p. 21">{{harvnb|Bergdoll|1995|p=21|ps=.}}</ref> From its opening, the building served both as a library and as the university's administrative office.<ref name="CU1901" /> The library could store 450,000 volumes in its stacks.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151" /> Additional space on the third floor was being temporarily allocated to Columbia's political science and philosophy departments,<ref name="p88783522" /> which were expected to relocate to dedicated quarters some time in the future, freeing space for another 600,000 volumes.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151" />

University officials believed the new library was sufficient to accommodate the university's collection, which in 1896 contained 215,000 volumes and was adding 12,000 volumes annually. The campus had 1,353 students across all programs in 1898, and the library was expected to easily accommodate all these students.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=151}}</ref> The collection grew much more quickly after the opening of the Morningside Heights campus, reaching 300,000 volumes by 1900.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 14, 1901 |title=Columbia's Library: Notes on Some of the Rare and Interesting Books It Contains |page=B7 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|571012879}}}}</ref> The following year, a university pamphlet said the library was open on weekdays between 8:30&nbsp;a.m. and 11:00&nbsp;p.m., and the library closed one hour earlier from July to September. At the time, the library had about 10,000 volumes in the general reading room, as well as 310,000 bound volumes and many pamphlets in the stacks.<ref name="CU1901" /> The steps outside the library became a meeting area for Columbia undergraduates in the early years of the campus.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=163}}</ref> In 1903 the ''Alma Mater'' sculpture was installed on the steps leading to the library.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 23, 1903 |title=University Opens To-Day |work=[[Columbia Daily Spectator]] |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19030923-01.2.2&srpos=12&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22alma+mater%22+statue------ |access-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720200032/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19030923-01.2.2&srpos=12&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22alma+mater%22+statue------ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Overcrowding====
[[File:Detroit Photographic Company (0671).jpg|thumb|alt=Low Library, circa 1902–05|Low Library, {{circa|1902–05}}]]

The collection was organized in a compartmentalized manner, and departments expanded at different rates, causing problems for the building's operation as a library.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151; Stern (1983) p. 406">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=151}}; {{harvnb|Stern|Gilmartin|Massengale|1983|ps=.|p=406}}</ref> [[Nicholas Murray Butler]], who had replaced Seth Low as university president, was observing crowded conditions at the library by 1902;<ref name="Dolkart p. 151" /> according to ''American Architect'' magazine, "One or two utilitarian points have been rather sacrificed."<ref name="AA p. 29">{{harvnb|American Architect|1902|p=29|ps=.}}</ref> In addition, the calling of books from the stacks was difficult. The {{cvt|10000|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} [[pneumatic tube]] delivery system stopped working two weeks after it was installed, and a [[dumbwaiter]] system had also broken down.<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /> The crowding increased in later years because the political science and philosophy departments did not move as scheduled, and because of increased enrollment{{snd}}the university had 4,225 students by 1914.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151" /> The overcrowding was slightly alleviated in 1910 when the law collection was relocated to the newly built Kent Hall.<ref name="Dolkart p. 182">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=182}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 23, 1910 |title=To Dedicate Kent Hall.; Prominent Lawyers to Speak at Columbia University Exercises. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/10/23/archives/to-dedicate-kent-hall-prominent-lawyers-to-speak-at-colum-bia.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924212258/https://www.nytimes.com/1910/10/23/archives/to-dedicate-kent-hall-prominent-lawyers-to-speak-at-colum-bia.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Avery Hall opened two years later;<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=183}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 10, 1912 |title=Avery Hall Opened: Newest and One of Most Complete of Columbia's Buildings |page=11 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|575014911}}}}</ref> by then, the Avery Architectural Library had also outgrown its space at Low.<ref name="Dolkart p. 182" /> The increasing overcrowding led Columbia's newspaper to say in a 1924 article: "'Library' is a misnomer for an edifice designed for the benefit of sightseers."<ref name="NYCL p. 4" />

In a 1921 report, Butler said: "Pressure upon the Library of the University has become such as well nigh to paralyze it."<ref name="Dolkart p. 195">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=195}}</ref> In that year's university's annual report, Butler suggested a library could be created in University Hall, the completion of which had been delayed for years.<ref name="Dolkart p. 195" /> A 1923 guidebook reported: "The room seats 152 readers, 15,000 reference volumes arranged on the shelves. The library contains in all about 835,000 volumes, beside pamphlets, manuscripts, and 50,000 doctoral dissertations."<ref name="RC p. 362" /> The following August, [[Charles C. Williamson]], who was appointed Dean of the Columbia School of Library Service in 1926,<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 21, 1926 |title=Faculty Selected for Library School; Curriculum for Two Years of Graduate Study at Columbia Also Announced |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/21/archives/faculty-selected-for-library-school-curriculum-for-two-years-of.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924234820/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/21/archives/faculty-selected-for-library-school-curriculum-for-two-years-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref> wrote to Butler suggesting the creation of a new library.<ref name="Stoller p. 6">{{harvnb|Stoller|1996|p=6|ps=.}}</ref> Williamson said in his letter: "A condition has been reached which threatens to hamper the growth and development of the University."<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=195}}; {{harvnb|Stoller|1996|p=6|ps=.}}</ref> Williamson suggested Columbia's library system needed space for at least four million volumes. Low's rotunda had become overcrowded with a reference collection while the card catalogs could not be sufficiently accommodated in the building.<ref name="Stoller p. 6" />

Williamson began soliciting funds from philanthropist and Columbia alumnus [[Edward Harkness]], and he commissioned [[James Gamble Rogers]] to design a new library.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|pp=195–196}}</ref> Rogers's ambitious plan to complete University Hall also included a bridge and tunnel connecting it with Low.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=196}}; {{harvnb|Stoller|1996|pp=6–7|ps=.}}</ref> As part of this plan, Low's north wing would have been gutted and replaced with a staircase leading to the bridge.<ref>{{harvnb|Stoller|1996|p=7|ps=.}}</ref> The plan was never realized because large portions of University Hall would have had to be rebuilt to accommodate the weight of the books, and the project was deemed too expensive.<ref name="Dolkart p. 196">{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|ps=.|p=196}}</ref> In December 1930 Butler asked Harkness to fund a new building on South Field facing Low from a site across 116th Street.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=196}}; {{harvnb|Stoller|1996|p=11|ps=.}}</ref> Rogers devised a final design for South Hall (now [[Butler Library]]) in April 1931.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=197}}; {{harvnb|Stoller|1996|p=13|ps=.}}</ref> The new library, which Harkness agreed to fund that May, would be able to hold four million volumes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 18, 1931 |title=Harkness to Build Library at Columbia for 4,000,000 Books; New Library to Be Built for Columbia University. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/18/archives/harkness-to-build-library-at-columbia-for-4000000-books-new-library.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924234824/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/18/archives/harkness-to-build-library-at-columbia-for-4000000-books-new-library.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 18, 1931 |title=New Library Harkness Gift For Columbia: Fund for Building to Hold 4,000,000 Books Revealed by Dr. Butler Construction to Start Soon Part of South Field Quadrangle Plan Present Structure, Gift of Seth Low, To Be Used for Collections and Displays |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1114107338}}}}</ref>

===Administrative offices===
<!--[[File:Columbia Book Slide.jpg|thumb|Upon the completion of [[Butler Library]], the contents of Low were transported to their new home using a slide.]]-->
[[File:NYC - Columbia University graduation day - 0999.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|A commencement in front of Low Library, 2005]]

The new South Hall was dedicated on November 30, 1934.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 1, 1934 |title=New Library Is Dedicated At Columbia: 900 Attend Ceremonies in South Hall, $4,000,000 Gift of E. S. Harkness |page=7 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1243678651}}}}</ref> A giant slide was used to transport the 700,000 books{{snd}}{{cvt|22|mi}} worth{{snd}}in Low's stacks to the new library.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 25, 1934 |title=Topics of The Times |pages=12 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|101219644}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lan |first=Lin |date=January 20, 2016 |title=8 Things You May Not Know About Butler Library |url=https://thelowdown.alumni.columbia.edu/8_things_you_may_not_know_about_butler_library |url-status=live |access-date=August 23, 2021 |website=The Low Down |archive-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616101459/https://thelowdown.alumni.columbia.edu/8_things_you_may_not_know_about_butler_library}}</ref><!--<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stein |first=Sadie |date=November 8, 2013 |title=The Great Columbia Book Slide of 1934 |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/08/the-great-columbia-book-slide-of-1934/ |access-date=August 23, 2021 |website=The Paris Review |language=en |archive-date=August 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823064820/https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/08/the-great-columbia-book-slide-of-1934/ |url-status=live}}</ref>--> Low continued to host the president's and secretary's offices, the summer session, and the Columbiana and Rare Book Collections. The rest of the building contained mostly faculty offices.<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /> Because people continued to refer to the building as "Low Library", some students were confused and believed the building still served as a library.<ref name="nyt20020217" />

In the first few years after the South Hall library was completed, the Low building was used for events such as an exhibit of fine books,<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 5, 1936 |title=Fine Books Are Shown.; Exhibition Is Opened at Low Library at Columbia. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/02/05/archives/fine-books-are-shown-exhibition-is-opened-at-low-library-at.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005151/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/02/05/archives/fine-books-are-shown-exhibition-is-opened-at-low-library-at.html |url-status=live}}</ref> a show of Navajo art,<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 15, 1937 |title=To Show Navajo Paintings |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/15/archives/to-show-navajo-paintings.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005145/https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/15/archives/to-show-navajo-paintings.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and a display of rare religious art.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 10, 1941 |title=To Show Religious Art; Columbia Exhibition to Cover Primitive to Modern Worship |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/02/10/archives/to-show-religious-art-columbia-exhibition-to-cover-primitive-to.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005143/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/02/10/archives/to-show-religious-art-columbia-exhibition-to-cover-primitive-to.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Low was also used to host large ceremonies with notable guests of honor,<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /><ref name="nyt20020217" /> including [[George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] of Britain, who visited Low in 1939,<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 10, 1939 |title=Descendants of Colonial Leaders to Greet Royalty at Columbia Today |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/06/10/archives/descendants-of-colonial-leaders-to-greet-royalty-at-columbia-today.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005145/https://www.nytimes.com/1939/06/10/archives/descendants-of-colonial-leaders-to-greet-royalty-at-columbia-today.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=June 9, 1939 |title=Columbia Gives Students Place To See the King: Will Admit Them to South Field Tomorrow as Royal Party Arrives at School |page=12 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1247099663}}}}</ref> as well as British prime minister [[Winston Churchill]] and Queen [[Juliana of the Netherlands]].<ref name="NYCL p. 4" /> In 1948 the west wing of the first floor was renovated as an office for the General of the U.S. Army [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] when he became Columbia's president.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 8, 1948 |title=Columbia States Altering House For Eisenhower: University's New President Also to Have New Offices in Low Memorial Library |page=3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1324146213}}}}</ref> [[Edmund Prentis|Edmund Astley Prentis]], and his wife and sister, donated a colonial-style drawing room to Low Library in 1960.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 21, 1960 |title=Colonial Drawing Room Dedicated at Columbia |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/12/21/archives/colonial-drawing-room-dedicated-at-columbia.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005153/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/12/21/archives/colonial-drawing-room-dedicated-at-columbia.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Four years later, the north wing was turned into the Faculty Room, a reception hall with oak paneling.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 18, 1964 |title=Decor Contrasts: At Columbia Campus |page=16 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|510624697}}}}</ref>

The [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) designated Low as a city landmark in 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 23, 1966 |title=2 Landmarks Designated at Columbia |pages=685 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85930986/2-landmarks-designated-at-columbia/ |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005151/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85930986/2-landmarks-designated-at-columbia/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 7, 1966 |title=Gramercy Park Area Given Historic Designation; 50 Structures Included in Preservation District Gracie Mansion Also Picked as City Landmark |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/10/07/archives/gramercy-park-area-given-historic-designation-50-structures.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925005146/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/10/07/archives/gramercy-park-area-given-historic-designation-50-structures.html |url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Columbia University protests of 1968|1968 Columbia protests]], Low was occupied by students objecting to, among other things, the proposed construction of a university-owned gymnasium in [[Morningside Park (Manhattan)|Morningside Park]] and Columbia's involvement with the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuessler |first=Jennifer |date=March 21, 2018 |title=At Columbia, Revisiting the Revolutionary Students of 1968 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/arts/columbia-university-1968-protest.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807122042/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/arts/columbia-university-1968-protest.html |url-status=live}}</ref> A major anti-war protest also took place at Low in 1972.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Arnold |first=Martin |date=April 21, 1972 |title=Protest at Columbia Brings Suspension Of Classes Today |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/21/archives/protest-at-columbia-brings-suspension-of-classes-today-protest-at.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014146/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/21/archives/protest-at-columbia-brings-suspension-of-classes-today-protest-at.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Among the less-conventional uses of the library's interior in the 1970s was a model airplane club being allowed to use the rotunda to fly miniature aircraft at weekends.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Quindlen |first=Anna |date=March 7, 1977 |title=Flights of Fancy Take Wing in Low Library |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/07/archives/flights-of-fancy-take-wing-in-low-library.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014212/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/07/archives/flights-of-fancy-take-wing-in-low-library.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The rotunda continued to host events like the annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for news broadcasters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fraser |first=C. Gerald |date=February 7, 1979 |title=17 Win duPont‐Columbia Broadcast‐News Awards. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/07/archives/17-win-dupontcolumbia-broadcastnews-awards-special-award-to-salant.html |access-date=September 25, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018193537/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/07/archives/17-win-dupontcolumbia-broadcastnews-awards-special-award-to-salant.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The LPC designated the interior of the library's first floor as a city landmark in 1981.<ref name="nycland" /> Low was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1987 as a [[National Historic Landmark]],<ref name=nris>{{cite web |date=1988 |title=National Register of Historic Places Weekly Lists for 1988 January–September |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-1988-Jan-Sept-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf |access-date=July 20, 2020 |publisher=National Park Service |page=3}}</ref> and it was added to the [[New York State Register of Historic Places]] the same year.<ref name="Cultural Resource Information System">{{cite web | title=Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS) | publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] | date=November 7, 2014 | url=https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ | access-date=July 20, 2023}}</ref>

In 2001 Columbia began to renovate Low's roof and add new mechanical systems to plans by David Paul Helpern Associates. The work was projected to cost $14.5&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|14.5|2001|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) and the installation of the new mechanical systems would enable Columbia officials to remove mechanical equipment from the roof. At the time, the building was still open to the public on weekdays from 9:00&nbsp;a.m. to 5:00&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="nyt20020217" /> In the early 21st century Low continued to be the location of large events such as protests and rallies. For example, in 2016, students conducted a [[sit-in]] and a "sleep-out" to demand divestment from fossil fuel companies,<ref>{{cite web |last=Armus|first=Teo|date=April 22, 2016 |title=CDCJ Ends Eight-Day Occupation of Low Library |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2016/04/22/cdcj-ends-eight-day-occupation-low-library/ |access-date=September 24, 2021 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator |archive-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108131404/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2016/04/22/cdcj-ends-eight-day-occupation-low-library/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and a chapter of [[Extinction Rebellion]] protested in the building in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 11, 2019 |title=Columbia Students Storm Low Library as Part of Extinction Rebellion Protest |url=https://www.amny.com/news/columbia-students-storm-low-library-as-part-of-extinction-rebellion-protest/ |access-date=September 24, 2021 |website=amNewYork |archive-date=March 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329185113/https://www.amny.com/news/columbia-students-storm-low-library-as-part-of-extinction-rebellion-protest/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Impact<span class="anchor" id="Critical reception"></span>==
[[File:Columbia_University_200th_Anniversary_3c_1954_issue_U.S._stamp.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|The 1954 [[Columbia University Bicentennial]] stamp depicts Low Library.]]

The Low Memorial Library was intended to symbolize Columbia's new campus and to serve as an administrative center.<ref>{{harvnb|Dolkart|1998|p=151}}; {{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=177|ps=.}}</ref> A 1995 article from the journal ''Library Columns'' said Low's cornerstone symbolizes the cornerstone of the entire campus "not only architecturally, but philosophically and philanthropically".<ref name="Bergdoll p. 17" /> Some early publications praised the design; one source said the library is "a utilitarian scheme artistically carried out",<ref name="Dolkart p. 151" /> and another ranked the library "among the foremost in the world".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=Dec 1897 |title=Columbia's New Library. |journal=The American Lawyer |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=577 |id={{ProQuest|125707304}}}}</ref> The fifth edition of the ''[[AIA Guide to New York City]]'' described Low Memorial Library in 2010 as "Columbia University's most noteworthy visual symbol" and a "dignified centerpiece for the campus".<ref name=aia5>{{Cite aia5|pages=496–497}}</ref>

The ''Real Estate Record and Guide'', believing Low to have been patterned after a French church by "the architect Rumpf", criticized Low's design as "plagiarized" from the older church.<ref name="nyt20020217">{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=February 17, 2002 |title=Streetscapes/Morningside Heights; The Library That Crowned Columbia's Move North |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/realestate/streetscapes-morningside-heights-the-library-that-crowned-columbia-s-move-north.html |access-date=September 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610124852/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/realestate/streetscapes-morningside-heights-the-library-that-crowned-columbia-s-move-north.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 3, 1897 |title=The Quarrel Between ... |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_020&page=ldpd_7031148_020_00000040 |volume=60 |number=1529 |pages=2 |journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide |via=[[Columbia University|columbia.edu]] |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925025805/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_020&page=ldpd_7031148_020_00000040 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Montgomery Schuyler]], who resented the fact the Columbia campus had not been designed in a Collegiate Gothic style, wrote in 1910: "the library of Columbia is a 'library de luxe and not de books'," citing a French friend.<ref name="Dolkart p. 151; Stern (1983) p. 406" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Schuyler |first=Montgomery |date=June 1910 |title=Architecture of American Colleges IV. New York City Colleges |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1910-01-06.pdf |journal=Architectural Record |volume=27 |pages=447 |access-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716135917/https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1910-01-06.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Architectural historian [[Richard Guy Wilson]] said: "The dome and space overpower while directional orientation to the necessities, such as picking up a book, are afterthoughts."<ref name="Wilson p. 177" /> According to Wilson, Low's exterior has "a powerful, rude strength of classicism being reborn" with refinement only in its architectural detail.<ref name="Wilson p. 177">{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=177|ps=.}}</ref>

<span class="anchor" id="Depictions of the library"></span>The Low Memorial Library has appeared in several portrayals of [[Columbia University in popular culture]], including the 2005 film ''[[Hitch (film)|Hitch]]'' and the 2017 film ''[[The Post (film)|The Post]]''.<ref name="Joy 2020">{{cite web |last=Joy |first=Julia |title=Columbia in the Movies |website=Columbia Magazine |date=December 17, 2020 |url=https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/columbia-movies |access-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref> The library building has also been depicted on postage. In 1954, during [[Columbia University Bicentennial|the university's bicentennial]], Low was commemorated on a postage stamp.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stiles |first=Kent B. |date=November 1, 1953 |title=Columbia University's Bicentennial Stamp First 1954 Issue |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/11/01/archives/columbia-universitys-bicentennial-stamp-first-1954-issue.html |access-date=September 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924200434/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/11/01/archives/columbia-universitys-bicentennial-stamp-first-1954-issue.html |url-status=live}}</ref> For the university's semiquincentennial in 2004, an image of the library was placed on a pre-stamped postcard.<ref>{{cite book |author=American Philatelic Association |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-c1aAAAAYAAJ |title=The American Philatelist |author2=American Philatelic Society |publisher=American Philatelic Association |year=2004 |page=383 |issue=v. 118 |access-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924200441/https://books.google.com/books?id=-c1aAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of libraries in 19th-century New York City]]
* [[List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan above 110th Street]]
* [[National Historic Landmarks in New York City]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 110th Street]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Bergdoll |first=Barry |date=Autumn 1995 |title=Laying the Cornerstone of the New Columbia University (Library), December 7, 1895 |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6309312_044/pages/ldpd_6309312_044_00000059.html |journal= |volume=44 |pages=14–21 |magazine=Library Columns |archive-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623055429/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6309312_044/pages/ldpd_6309312_044_00000059.html |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Broderick |first=Mosette |title=Triumvirate : McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-59427-3 |oclc=698447571}}
* {{cite magazine |date=March 26, 1898 |title=Columbia University |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26116661 |journal= |volume=78 |pages=200–202 |issn=0036-8733 |ref={{harvid|Scientific American|1898}} |number=13 |magazine=Scientific American |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924152110/https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26116661 |url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{Cite morningside}}
* {{cite magazine |date=July–September 1899 |title=Horizontal Curves in Columbia University |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1899-07-09.pdf |journal=Architectural Record |volume=9 |pages=82–93 |ref={{harvid|Architectural Record|1899}} |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713204046/https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1899-07-09.pdf |url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite news |date=May 17, 1895 |title=Lavish Gifts to Columbia: Seth Low's Munificence to Pay for the College Library, Which Will Cost About $1,000,000 |page= |pages=1, 3 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|574046076}} |ref={{harvid|''New-York Tribune'' May 17, 1895}}}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite magazine |date=July 26, 1902 |title=Libraries of the United States – II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FItMAAAAYAAJ |journal=American Architect and Architecture |publisher=American Architect |volume=77 |pages=28–29 |ref={{harvid|American Architect|1902}} |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009163714/https://books.google.com/books?id=FItMAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite report |date=December 23, 1987 |title=Low Memorial Library |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/27a13f31-b556-4aaa-b7b7-87c3b5261550 |url-status=live |publisher=[[National Register of Historic Places]], [[National Park Service]] |ref={{harvid|National Park Service|1987}} |archive-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908073828/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/27a13f31-b556-4aaa-b7b7-87c3b5261550/}}
* {{cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1118.pdf |title=Low Memorial Library Interior |date=February 3, 1981 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981}} |archive-date=December 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223055908/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1118.pdf |url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal |last=Passanti |first=Francesco |date=April 1, 1977 |title=The Design of Columbia in the 1890s, McKim and His Client |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |publisher=University of California Press |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=69–84 |doi=10.2307/989104 |jstor=989104 |issn=0037-9808}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rider |first1=Fremont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zcs3AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA361 |title=Rider's New York City: A Guide-book for Travelers, with 13 Maps and 20 Plans |last2=Cooper |first2=F.T. |publisher=H. Holt |year=1923 |series=Rider's guides |pages=361–362 |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924152110/https://books.google.com/books?id=Zcs3AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA361 |url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite book |last=Roth |first=Leland |title=McKim, Mead & White, Architects |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-06-430136-7 |oclc=9325269}}
* {{Cite New York 1900}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Stoller |first=Michael |date=Autumn 1996 |title=Columbia's Library For the Twentieth Century: The Rise of South Hall |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6309312_045/pages/ldpd_6309312_045_00000054.html |journal= |volume=45 |pages=4–17 |magazine=Library Columns |archive-date=May 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512055007/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6309312_045/pages/ldpd_6309312_045_00000054.html |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Richard Guy |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9413129 |title=McKim, Mead & White, architects |date=1983 |publisher=Rizzoli |isbn=978-0-8478-0491-7 |language=English |oclc=9413129 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105130810/https://www.worldcat.org/title/mckim-mead-white-architects/oclc/9413129 |url-status=live}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060627125706/http://www.gs.columbia.edu/kevinmap/lowmemorial.htm Low Memorial Library information] by the School of General Studies

{{Subject bar|portal1=Architecture|portal2=National Register of Historic Places|portal3=New York City|portal4=United States|commons=Category:Low Memorial Library}}
{{Columbia University}}
{{Morningside Heights, Manhattan}}
{{New York City Historic Sites|state=collapsed}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1897 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Columbia University campus]]
[[Category:Columbia University Libraries]]
[[Category:Former library buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Library buildings completed in 1897]]
[[Category:McKim, Mead & White buildings]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in New York City]]
[[Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan]]
[[Category:New York City interior landmarks]]
[[Category:New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County]]
[[Category:1890s architecture in the United States]]