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Low Memorial Library
The Low Memorial Library (nicknamed Low) is a building at the center of Columbia University's campus in Upper Manhattan, New York City, U.S. 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 (equivalent to $39 million in 2025) 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.
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, 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, 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 stacks could store one-and-a-half million volumes; the east wing hosted the Avery Architectural Library and the north wing hosted Columbia's 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.
Low Memorial Library is at the center of Columbia University's campus in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, U.S. The building's official address is 535 West 116th Street, though the section of 116th Street between Broadway to the west and Amsterdam Avenue to the east is part of the private College Walk. Low is raised above the northern portion of the campus, which itself is a terrace above the South Court to the south. The library building occupies the highest point of the original campus.
The building is surrounded by Miller Theatre and Lewisohn Hall to the southwest; Earl Hall to the west; Mathematics and Havemeyer Halls to the west; Uris Hall to the north; Schermerhorn, Avery, and Fayerweather Halls to the northeast; St. Paul's Chapel to the east; and Buell, Philosophy, and Kent Halls to the southeast. Earl Hall and St. Paul's Chapel are situated along the same west–east axis as Low. This arrangement is part of McKim, Mead & White's design for the campus.
Two flights of steps connect the terrace to the South Court; the library proper is approached by another flight above the terrace. Known as "the Steps", "Low Steps", and occasionally "Low Beach", they are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. They also serve as a connection between the northern and southern sections of Columbia's campus.
One 325-to-327 ft (99-to-100 m) wide flight leads from the South Court to an intermediate landing, and a narrower, 134-to-140 ft (41-to-43 m) leads from the intermediate landing to the terrace. The narrower flight itself has an intermediate landing containing Alma Mater, a sculpture by Daniel Chester French that depicts a woman, personifying the traditional image of the university as an alma mater. 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. The centers of the stairs are slightly curved upward to remove the impression they were sagging. As a result, the center of each step is about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) taller than the extreme ends. Smaller sets of staircases connect the intermediate landing to passages at terrace level on the west and east.
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." During Columbia University commencement ceremonies, Columbia's "graduation mace" is customarily carried down the stairs. The stairs have been used for other speeches, such as a 1991 speech by novelist Salman Rushdie after the Iranian government targeted him for assassination.
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Low Memorial Library
The Low Memorial Library (nicknamed Low) is a building at the center of Columbia University's campus in Upper Manhattan, New York City, U.S. 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 (equivalent to $39 million in 2025) 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.
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, 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, 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 stacks could store one-and-a-half million volumes; the east wing hosted the Avery Architectural Library and the north wing hosted Columbia's 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.
Low Memorial Library is at the center of Columbia University's campus in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, U.S. The building's official address is 535 West 116th Street, though the section of 116th Street between Broadway to the west and Amsterdam Avenue to the east is part of the private College Walk. Low is raised above the northern portion of the campus, which itself is a terrace above the South Court to the south. The library building occupies the highest point of the original campus.
The building is surrounded by Miller Theatre and Lewisohn Hall to the southwest; Earl Hall to the west; Mathematics and Havemeyer Halls to the west; Uris Hall to the north; Schermerhorn, Avery, and Fayerweather Halls to the northeast; St. Paul's Chapel to the east; and Buell, Philosophy, and Kent Halls to the southeast. Earl Hall and St. Paul's Chapel are situated along the same west–east axis as Low. This arrangement is part of McKim, Mead & White's design for the campus.
Two flights of steps connect the terrace to the South Court; the library proper is approached by another flight above the terrace. Known as "the Steps", "Low Steps", and occasionally "Low Beach", they are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. They also serve as a connection between the northern and southern sections of Columbia's campus.
One 325-to-327 ft (99-to-100 m) wide flight leads from the South Court to an intermediate landing, and a narrower, 134-to-140 ft (41-to-43 m) leads from the intermediate landing to the terrace. The narrower flight itself has an intermediate landing containing Alma Mater, a sculpture by Daniel Chester French that depicts a woman, personifying the traditional image of the university as an alma mater. 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. The centers of the stairs are slightly curved upward to remove the impression they were sagging. As a result, the center of each step is about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) taller than the extreme ends. Smaller sets of staircases connect the intermediate landing to passages at terrace level on the west and east.
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." During Columbia University commencement ceremonies, Columbia's "graduation mace" is customarily carried down the stairs. The stairs have been used for other speeches, such as a 1991 speech by novelist Salman Rushdie after the Iranian government targeted him for assassination.
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