Butler Library

Butler Library is a prominent library on the campus of Columbia University in New York City with more than 10 million volumes. The library is composed of four separate library buildings: Butler, Low, East Asian, and Science and Engineering. It offers numerous public readings, lectures, concerts, and exhibitions throughout the year. Its rare book collection is extensive and includes original and antique works from all periods. In the late 1920s, an endowment by Elizabeth Schermerhorn Anderson promoted the building of the library. It was designed by James Gamble Rogers in the Collegiate Gothic style reminiscent of England’s Cambridge University. Ten bronze lions, symbolizing the protecting care of Columbia's patron deity Minerva, guard the entranceway. Visitors can explore the library’s opulent reading rooms, grand staircases, and impressive portraits of the university's past presidents.