Low Library

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See also Wikipedia's article about "Low Library".
From Wikipedia's article on Columbia University.
The Low Rotunda Reading Room

Low Memorial Library was the university's main library on the Morningside Heights campus until the completion of Butler Library in 1934. It was named after Seth Low's father, Abiel Abbot Low. It is now an administrative building, housing Bollinger's office, as well as the University Archives, the Columbiana Collection, the King's College Room, the Columbia Security office, and the Visitor's Center.

The Rotunda

The Low Library Rotunda is the University's primary ceremonial space on campus. It hosts major prize ceremonies such as the Pulitzer and Bancroft, hosts dignitaries and heads of state during the World Leaders Forum, and pretty much anything that's fancy and formal. A giant mural on the third floor of Butler Library depicts the ceremony held to honor the Queen of England on her visit to Columbia in 19??. When Low still functioned as a Library, the rotunda was the main reading room and held the circulation desk.

Above each of the 16 rotunda columns are pedestals for statues, but only 4 were ever erected. On the north side of the Rotunda from left to right are Euripedes (donated by Charles McKim, a copy of the Giustinian Euripides in the Vatican), a copy of the Vatican Demosthenes (donated by W. Bayard Cutting CC 1869), Sophocles, a copy of the statue in the Lateran Museum (donated by Dr. George G. Wheelock CC 1864), and Augustus Caesar, a copy of the statue in the Louvre (donated by F. Augustus Schermerhorn CC 1868). They're all carved from Istrian marble.

Space reservations

Contact Joseph Sabbat, Space & Reservations Coordinator, Low Memorial Library on 212-854-1874.