It’s visible from all over campus and draws the eye as you walk across College Walk. The dome of Low Library stands tall and proud in the center of everything. Have you ever wondered what is the dome made of? How high is it? How can you get up there? And is it safe? In […]
Category: Columbia University Archives
University Archives COVID-19 Questionnaire
Just as we turned to our records to find out how Columbia responded to previous health crises, the University Archives is now collecting materials to document the coronavirus pandemic. The University’s official response is being recorded by saving communications, emails, websites and other documents. In addition to these materials, we are inviting faculty, students, alumni, […]
Low and Gould Memorial Libraries: Contemporaries and Counterparts
McKim’s plan for the Columbia campus featured a library as its center and that library, now known as Low Memorial Library, opened in 1897. But Columbia was not the only City university looking to build a new campus with a central, architecturally-significant library in the 1890s. NYU, or the University of the City of New […]
News from RBML’s Archivists | April 2020
Columbia University Libraries (CUL) remain closed until further notice to aid in the containment of COVID-19, RBML’s archivists won’t be physically processing materials. Head Archivist Kevin Schlottmann has these updates about our collections from archivists hard at work in their offsite locations. Please be safe and take advantage of this time to engage with materials […]
Continuous History: the Trustees Room of Low Library
Visitors to campus are understandably confused that the building engraved with the designation of “The Library of Columbia University” is not actually a library. The last library collection housed at Low, the Columbiana Collection and University Archives, moved out and into the Rare Book and Manuscript Library in 2007. Over the years most of the […]