Low Memorial Library

Low Memorial Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
New York State Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 0304, 1118
Location in Manhattan
Location	Campus of Columbia University, Manhattan, New York
Coordinates	40°48′30″N 73°57′43″W / 40.80833°N 73.96194°W / 40.80833; -73.96194
Built	1894–1897[1]
Architect	Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead, and White[1]
Architectural style	Neoclassical
NRHP reference No.	87002599
NYSRHP No.	06101.000391
NYCL No.	0304, 1118
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 23, 1987[5]
Designated NHL	December 23, 1987[5]
Designated NYSRHP	September 17, 1982[2]
Designated NYCL	Exterior: September 20, 1966[3] Rotunda interior: February 3, 1981[4]

The Low Memorial Library (nicknamed Low) is a building at the center of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in Upper Manhattan, New York City, United States. 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 $37 million in 2023) 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.