Butler Library

Last updated
Butler Library
Butler Library Columbia University.jpg
Butler Library at Columbia University in New York City
Butler Library
Country United States
Type Academic library
Established1934 (1934)
Location New York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 40°48′23″N73°57′48″W / 40.80639°N 73.96333°W / 40.80639; -73.96333 Coordinates: 40°48′23″N73°57′48″W / 40.80639°N 73.96333°W / 40.80639; -73.96333
Branch of Columbia University Libraries
Collection
Size2 million
Website library.columbia.edu/libraries/butler.html/

Butler Library is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University at 535 West 114th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. It is the university's largest single library with over 2 million volumes, as well as one of the largest buildings on the campus. [1] It houses the Columbia University Libraries collections in the humanities, history, social sciences, literature, philosophy, and religion, and the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Contents

The Neoclassical style building was built in 1931–1934 to a design by James Gamble Rogers. Butler Library remains at least partially open 24 hours a day during the academic year. [2] : 1–2 

History

The 1954 unveiling of the 12-foot stained-glass window depicting Peter Stuyvesant in Butler 209, given to the university by the Netherlands Antillean government in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam and the Columbia University Bicentennial Stuyvesant Columbia.jpg
The 1954 unveiling of the 12-foot stained-glass window depicting Peter Stuyvesant in Butler 209, given to the university by the Netherlands Antillean government in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam and the Columbia University Bicentennial
Butler Library within the architectural context of the surrounding McKim, Mead & White buildings ColumbiaCampus.jpg
Butler Library within the architectural context of the surrounding McKim, Mead & White buildings

Planning and construction

Butler was built from 1931 to 1934 in order to replace the existing Low Library, which was completed in 1897, but by the 1920s had already proved inadequate for the needs of the university's expanding library. The first proposal to build a new library building was made in 1922 by Nicholas Murray Butler, the president of Columbia University from 1902 to 1945, who suggested that the unfinished University Hall, which sat behind Low where Uris Hall stands today, could be completed for library use. [3] : 195 

Following a letter from the director of the Columbia Libraries, Charles C. Williamson, in August 1927, which detailed the library's need for space, Butler began seriously contemplating the University Hall expansion. He began soliciting funds from the philanthropist and alumnus Edward Harkness, who at the time was also funding the residential college system at Yale, and commissioned James Gamble Rogers, Harkness' favorite architect, to draw up plans for the new library. Rogers' ambitious plan to complete University Hall also included a bridge connecting it with Low. It was never realized, however, as large portions of University Hall would have had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate the extra weight of the books, and the project was deemed too expensive. [3] : 196–197 

In December 1930, Butler changed his request to Harkness, now asking him to fund a completely new building to be placed on South Field, facing Low Library from across 116th Street. Rogers arrived at his final design in April 1931, and Harkness agreed to provide $4 million towards its construction. Though Rogers' previous projects at Yale and Northwestern University had largely been Collegiate Gothic, his design for the new library was in the Neoclassical style in order for it to fit within the context established by McKim, Mead & White, who had designed most of the other buildings on Columbia's campus. [4] Construction began in 1931, and the building was completed in 1934. Upon its completion, a giant slide was used to transport the 22 miles of books in Low to the new library. [5] [6]

Shortly after construction began, Butler proposed naming the building after Alexander Hamilton, arguing that "Hamilton remains, after all the years that have passed, the most distinguished alumnus of Columbia in any of the stages of its history." However, the trustees of the university insisted on naming it after Butler himself. As it would have been inappropriate to name a building after him while he still served as president, the library was given the placeholder name of "South Hall" until 1946, a year after Butler's retirement, when it was renamed to Butler Library. [3] : 199 

Recent history

The Lawrence A. Wien Reference Room, the main reading room of Butler Library ReferenceButler.jpg
The Lawrence A. Wien Reference Room, the main reading room of Butler Library

Butler Library has been the site of several notable protests around the names on the inscriptions on its façade, which are exclusively white and male. On commencement day in 1989, several students attempted to unfurl a banner above the main inscription containing the names of prominent female authors including Sappho, Virginia Woolf, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, all of whom were white. [7] The banner was quickly taken down by the university administration, though it reappeared the next fall, and in 1994 to commemorate Women's History Month. A new banner was placed above the inscription in 2019 as a piece of protest art with the endorsement of the Columbia University Libraries, this one containing the names of women authors of color, including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Zora Neale Hurston. [8]

The 2016 decision to place a copy of Reclining Figure 1969–70 , a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, in front of Butler Library was protested by students, who described the statue as "ugly" and "kind of evil". In particular, students complained that the statue would "throw off [South Lawn]'s Versailles-like symmetry" and "interrupt ...the architectural harmony" of Butler Plaza. [9] Following the protests, the university administration decided to change its location to the lawn in front of Havemeyer Hall and Mathematics Hall. [10]

The Columbia tradition of Orgo Night took place each semester in Butler 209, a large reading room in the library, where the Columbia University Marching Band would hold a performance in order to distract students from studying on the night before the organic chemistry final. [11] The marching band was banned from the building in 2016, and the tradition was discontinued entirely following the disbandment of the band in 2020. [12]

Design

The Butler Library colonnade, above which are the names inscribed on the building's frieze Columbia University 1 by Rangilo.JPG
The Butler Library colonnade, above which are the names inscribed on the building's frieze

Butler Library was built in the Neoclassical style. The building is ten stories tall, with two small wings on either side with brick façades in a Flemish bond pattern and limestone trim, intended to connect it visually with the rest of the Columbia campus. [3] : 199  The building's façade is adorned with a three-story colonnade of fourteen columns of the Ionic order which echoes that of Low Library, copper lanterns, and cast iron marquees. [13]

Above the library's colonnade are inscribed the names of writers, philosophers, and thinkers, many of which are represented in the university's Core Curriculum: Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Vergil on the northern face, towards College Walk and the Low Library; Cervantes, Shakespeare, Milton, Voltaire, and Goethe on the east, facing John Jay Hall and Wallach Hall; and Horace, Tacitus, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Dante on the western facade, facing Alfred Lerner Hall and Carman Hall. [14] The panels along the front façade of the library are also inscribed with the names of prominent American writers and statesmen. [15] The names were selected by Nicholas Butler, as were the quotations which decorate the main rooms of the library. [4]

The large mural in the entrance lobby, titled Videbimus Lumen, (based on the university's motto In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen, or In Thy Light Shall We See Light) was painted in 1934 by Eugene Francis Savage. The composition is anchored by the figure of Athena, echoing the large Alma Mater sculpture in front of Low Library in the center of the campus. The mural contains references to light, social struggle, fascism, and the architecture of Columbia and New York City. [16]

The lobby of Butler Library Butler Library Lobby.jpg
The lobby of Butler Library

Several books and screenplays have been written in Butler, including Nobel Prize‑winning novelist Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book and the script for the film Capote . [17] [6] It also plays a role in Paul Auster's 2009 novel Invisible: the novel's main protagonist, Adam Walker, takes a job as a page in the library's stacks. This section of the novel is set in 1967 when the stacks were closed to library users. [2] The library is also referenced in Erica Jong's Fear of Flying. [18]

The Raven Mantel, the mantelpiece and last remnant of the room in which Edgar Allan Poe penned his most famous poem, "The Raven", was acquired by Columbia in 1908. It is currently installed in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, on the 6th floor of Butler Library. [19]

Butler Library has been described as one of the most beautiful college libraries in the United States. [20] [21] [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia University</span> Private university in New York City

Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York, the fifth-oldest in the United States, and one of nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morningside Heights</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside Heights borders Central Harlem and Morningside Park to the east, Manhattanville to the north, the Manhattan Valley section of the Upper West Side to the south, and Riverside Park to the west. Broadway is the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, running north–south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia College (New York)</span> Oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University

Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan, it was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of Great Britain. It is Columbia University's traditional undergraduate program, offering BA degrees. It is highly selective, with fewer than four percent of applicants being offered admission as of 2022. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States.

Columbia University in New York City has an extensive tunnel system underneath its Morningside Heights campus connecting many of its buildings, used by the university as conduits for steam, electricity, telecommunications, and other infrastructure. Throughout their history, the tunnels have also been used for other purposes, mostly centering around transportation. During the first half of the 20th century, they were used by students to avoid aboveground traffic. When the university housed the Manhattan Project, they were allegedly used to move radioactive material between buildings. During the Columbia University protests of 1968, students used the tunnels to facilitate their occupation of buildings on campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gamble Rogers</span> American architect

James Gamble Rogers was an American architect. A proponent of what came to be known as Collegiate Gothic architecture, he is best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia University Marching Band</span> University marching band

The Columbia University Marching Band (CUMB) was the marching band of Columbia University. Founded in 1904, it claimed to be the first college or university marching band in the United States to convert to a scramble band format, making the switch in the 1950s. Today, all of the Ivy League bands, as well as the Stanford Band, William & Mary Pep Band, and Marching Owl Band have adopted the scramble band style.

In 1968, a series of protests at Columbia University in New York City were one among the various student demonstrations that occurred around the globe in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students discovered links between the university and the institutional apparatus supporting the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, as well as their concern over an allegedly segregated gymnasium to be constructed in the nearby Morningside Park. The protests resulted in the student occupation of many university buildings and the eventual violent removal of protesters by the New York City Police Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Jay Hall</span> Dormitory at Columbia University

John Jay Hall is a 15-story building located on the southeastern extremity of the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City, on the northwestern corner of 114th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. Named for Founding Father, The Federalist Papers author, diplomat, and first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Jay, it was among the last buildings designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, which had provided Columbia's original Morningside Heights campus plan, and was finished in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Campus (Columbia University)</span> Building in New York City, New York

East Campus is a prominent building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City, located along Morningside Drive between 117th and 118th Streets. One of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, it serves primarily as a residence hall for Columbia undergraduates, although it also contains a small hotel, the university's Center for Career Education, its Facilities Management office, and the Heyman Center for the Humanities. East Campus, a $28.7 million facility, was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and built in 1979-1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Hall (Columbia University)</span> Academic building at Columbia University

Hamilton Hall is an academic building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University on College Walk at 1130 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, serving as the home of Columbia College. It was built in 1905–1907 and was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Neoclassical style; the building was part of the firm's original master plan for the campus. The building was the gift of the John Stewart Kennedy, a former trustee of Columbia College, and is named after Alexander Hamilton, who attended King's College, Columbia's original name. A statue of Hamilton by William Ordway Partridge stands outside the building entrance. Hamilton Hall is the location of the Columbia College administrative offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia University Libraries</span> Academic library system in New York

Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials, it is the fifth-largest academic library in the United States and the largest academic library in the State of New York. Additionally, the closely affiliated Jewish Theological Seminary Library holds over 400,000 volumes, which combined makes the Columbia University Libraries the third-largest academic library, and the second-largest private library in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low Memorial Library</span> Building at Columbia University in Manhattan, New York

The Low Memorial Library is a building at the center of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building, located near 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, was designed by Charles Follen McKim of the firm McKim, Mead & White. The building was constructed between 1895 and 1897 as the 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 million and named the edifice in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low. Low's facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is also designated as a National Historic Landmark.

<i>Alma Mater</i> (New York sculpture) Sculpture by Daniel Chester French in Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Alma Mater is a bronze sculpture by Daniel Chester French which is located on the steps of the Low Memorial Library on the campus of Columbia University, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. French designed the statue in 1901, and it was installed in September 1903. It is a personification of the alma mater, which represents Columbia in its role as an educational institution; since its installation, the statue has become closely associated with the image of the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carman Hall</span> Building in New York City, New York

Carman Hall is a dormitory located on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus and currently houses first-year students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia University traditions</span>

Columbia University has developed many traditions over its 269-year-long existence, most of them associated with its oldest undergraduate division, Columbia College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Savage</span> American painter and sculptor (1883–1978)

Eugene Francis Savage was an American painter and sculptor known for his murals in the manner made official under the Works Projects Administration. He also is known for his work on the Bailey Fountain in Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York, the mural Videbimus Lumen in the Butler Library of Columbia University, and the Alma Mater mural featured in the Sterling Memorial Library on the campus of Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Italiana</span> United States historic place

Casa Italiana is a building at Columbia University located at 1161 Amsterdam Avenue between West 116th and 118th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, which houses the university's Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. It was built in 1926–27 and was designed by William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White in the Renaissance style, modeled after a 15th-century Roman palazzo. The building was restored, and the east facade completed, in 1996 by Buttrick White & Burtis with Italo Rota as associate architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Columbia University</span>

The history of Columbia University began before it was founded in 1754 in New York City as King's College, by royal charter of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, and the fifth oldest in the United States.

Columbia University in New York City, New York, has seen numerous instances of student protests, particularly beginning in the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buell Hall</span> Academic building at Columbia University

Buell Hall is an academic building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City. Built in 1885 as Macy Villa, it is the oldest building on Columbia's campus, and the last remaining building at Columbia which dates back to the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, on whose grounds the university is now located. It now houses La Maison Française, the oldest French cultural center on an American university campus, as well as the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

References

  1. ↑ "Butler Library". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Butler Library: Self‑Guided Tour" (PDF). New York: Columbia University Libraries. September 17, 2008. pp. 1–8. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 28, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Dolkart, Andrew S. (March 15, 2001). Morningside Heights: A History of Its Architecture and Development. Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-07851-1.
  4. 1 2 "About Butler Library | Columbia University Libraries". library.columbia.edu. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  5. ↑ Stein, Sadie (November 8, 2013). "The Great Columbia Book Slide of 1934". The Paris Review. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Lan, Lin (January 20, 2016). "8 Things You May Not Know About Butler Library". The Low Down. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  7. ↑ Greene, Leonard. "New chapter for women authors: Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison join the ranks of Plato and Demosthenes at Columbia University library". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  8. ↑ Wolfe, Elizabeth; Ries, Brian (October 7, 2019). "Columbia's library building features the names of only male authors. After 3 decades of trying, these students have fixed that". CNN. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  9. ↑ Barone, Joshua (April 4, 2016). "Columbia Students Protest a Henry Moore Sculpture". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  10. ↑ Ferrari, Roberto (March 21, 2016). "New Public Outdoor Sculpture by Henry Moore... Coming Soon!". cul.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Marching band holds Orgo Night inside Butler Library, defying administrators' decision - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Columbia University Marching Band votes to disband after 116 years - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Columbia University, Butler Library". Hoffmann Architects, Inc. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Grazing in the Stacks of Academe". The New York Times. June 27, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  15. ↑ Theis, Courtney Wimberly (2011). Pro Libris: Architectural Inscriptions and the University Library Building. Indiana: Ball State University. p. 67.
  16. ↑ "The Mural · Videbimus Lumen: Butler Library Mural · A Digital History of Morningside Heights". mhdh.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk's University Lecture Tells the Story of Objects". Columbia News. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  18. ↑ Jong, Erica (October 8, 2013). Fear of Flying. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-8050-9858-7.
  19. ↑ Waldman, Benjamin; Newman, Andy (August 10, 2012). "After a Part in Poe's 'Raven,' the Dust of Obscurity". City Room. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  20. ↑ "The 15 Most Beautiful College Libraries in America". Thrillist. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  21. ↑ Maloney, Maggie; Itzkowitz, Laura (August 21, 2018). "These Are America's Most Beautiful College Libraries". Town & Country. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  22. ↑ "15 Of The Most Incredible College Libraries Around The World". Bustle. Retrieved August 10, 2021.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.