Uris Library
Uris Library is a library on the campus of Cornell University, located at the southwest corner of the Arts Quad overlooking Libe Slope. The oldest library building at Cornell, Uris Library also houses the A. D. White Library, "a library within a library", named after the university's first president, Andrew Dickson White. The building included McGraw Tower that became a symbol of Cornell.
History
19th century
Uris Library was designed by Cornell's first architecture student, William Henry Miller. Opening in 1891, it was Cornell University's first library and was originally known as "The University Library." Built at a cost of $227,000 with a space for 400,000 books, the library was, at a time of construction, thought to be the finest college library in the United States.The A.D. White Library
Andrew Dickson White had advocated for the construction of the building today known as Uris Library for decades, and donated his personal collection of 30,000 books--a donation which increased the size of the university's book collections by 50%. In response, trustees allocated a large room within the library to house White's collections. This room was so large, it was called a library and originally opened as the "President White Library of History and Political Science." This section of the building is today known as the A. D. White Library.White collaborated with William Henry Miller to design the A. D. White Library as a cross-shaped room with three levels of stacks. The room features balconies and crosswalks covered in iron scrollwork on the upper levels, and spiral staircases in the corners. The wood floor was originally bare until a deep green carpet was added to dampen noise. It was not until the 1980s that the carpet was replaced with ruby red.