Butler Library: Difference between revisions
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Butler Library underwent major renovations, which were completed in several stages, between 1995 and 2009.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Inherent strategies in library management|last=Koizumi, Masanori|year=2017|isbn=9780081012970|location=Cambridge, MA, United States|pages=118|oclc=981463395}}</ref> In 2018 the library was targeted by student activists, calling for the [[Decolonization|decolonialization]] of the campus, including replacing inscriptions and statues to facilitate the better representation of women and marginalized people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2018/04/25/protesters-storm-butler-demanding-decolonization-of-curriculum-campus-monuments/|title=Protesters storm Butler demanding 'decolonization' of curriculum, campus monuments|website=Columbia Daily Spectator|access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> |
Butler Library underwent major renovations, which were completed in several stages, between 1995 and 2009.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Inherent strategies in library management|last=Koizumi, Masanori|year=2017|isbn=9780081012970|location=Cambridge, MA, United States|pages=118|oclc=981463395}}</ref> In 2018 the library was targeted by student activists, calling for the [[Decolonization|decolonialization]] of the campus, including replacing inscriptions and statues to facilitate the better representation of women and marginalized people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://columbiaspectator.com/news/2018/04/25/protesters-storm-butler-demanding-decolonization-of-curriculum-campus-monuments/|title=Protesters storm Butler demanding 'decolonization' of curriculum, campus monuments|website=Columbia Daily Spectator|access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> |
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The Columbia tradition of Orgo Night took place each semester in room 209, a large reading room in Butler, where the [[Columbia University Marching Band]] |
The Columbia tradition of Orgo Night took place each semester in room 209, a large reading room in Butler, 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marching band holds Orgo Night inside Butler Library, defying administrators’ decision - Columbia Spectator|url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2017/12/15/marching-band-holds-orgo-night-inside-butler-library-defying-administrators-decision/|access-date=2021-08-02|website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref> This tradition was discontinued following the disbandment of the marching band in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia University Marching Band votes to disband after 116 years - Columbia Spectator|url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/sports/2020/09/15/columbia-university-marching-band-votes-to-disband-after-116-years/|access-date=2021-08-03|website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref> |
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== Design == |
== Design == |
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Revision as of 09:49, 10 August 2021
| Butler Library | |
|---|---|
 Butler Library | |
 | |
| 40°48′23″N 73°57′48″W / 40.8064°N 73.9633°W | |
| Location | New York City, New York, United States |
| Type | Academic library |
| Established | 1934 |
| Branch of | Columbia University Libraries |
| Collection | |
| Size | 2 million |
| Other information | |
| Website | library |
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, as well as the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 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
Butler was built in 1931–1934 and was designed by James Gamble Rogers in the Neoclassical style. The new library was funded by Edward Harkness, a Columbia alumnus who was also the donor of Yale's residential college system, and costed $4 million.[3]
Originally called "South Hall", in 1946 it was renamed for Nicholas Murray Butler, the president of Columbia University from 1902–1945. Butler first proposed a new library building when plans to expand the Low Memorial Library did not come to fruition.[4]
Butler Library underwent major renovations, which were completed in several stages, between 1995 and 2009.[5] In 2018 the library was targeted by student activists, calling for the decolonialization of the campus, including replacing inscriptions and statues to facilitate the better representation of women and marginalized people.[6]
The Columbia tradition of Orgo Night took place each semester in room 209, a large reading room in Butler, 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.[7] This tradition was discontinued following the disbandment of the marching band in 2020.[8]
Design
The library's facade features a colonnade of columns in the Ionic order above which are inscribed the names of writers, philosophers, and thinkers: 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.[9] The panels along the front façade of the library are also inscribed with the names of prominent American writers and statesmen.[10] The names were selected by Nicholas Butler, as were the quotations which decorate the main rooms of the library.[3]
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 sculpture of Alma Mater in the center of the campus. The mural contains references to light, social struggle, fascism, and the architecture of Columbia and New York City.[11]
In popular culture
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. 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 page's task was to retrieve requested books from the stacks and re‑shelve returned books. The library is also referenced in Erica Jong's Fear of Flying.
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.[12]
The building has been described as one of the most beautiful college libraries in the United States.[13][14][15]
See also
References
- ^ "Butler Library". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "About Butler Library | Columbia University Libraries". library.columbia.edu. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
- ^ "Butler Library". Retrieved March 7, 2016.
- ^ Koizumi, Masanori (2017). Inherent strategies in library management. Cambridge, MA, United States. p. 118. ISBN 9780081012970. OCLC 981463395.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Protesters storm Butler demanding 'decolonization' of curriculum, campus monuments". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "Marching band holds Orgo Night inside Butler Library, defying administrators' decision - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
- ^ "Columbia University Marching Band votes to disband after 116 years - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ "Grazing in the Stacks of Academe". The New York Times. June 27, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
- ^ Theis, Courtney Wimberly (2011). Pro Libris: Architectural Inscriptions and the University Library Building. Indiana: Ball State University. p. 67.
- ^ "The Mural · Videbimus Lumen: Butler Library Mural · A Digital History of Morningside Heights". mhdh.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
- ^ Waldman, Benjamin; Newman, Andy (August 10, 2012). "After a Part in Poe's 'Raven,' the Dust of Obscurity". City Room. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
- ^ "The 15 Most Beautiful College Libraries in America". Thrillist. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ^ Maloney, Maggie; Itzkowitz, Laura (August 21, 2018). "These Are America's Most Beautiful College Libraries". Town & Country. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ^ "15 Of The Most Incredible College Libraries Around The World". Bustle. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
External links
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