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Constructed: 1906
Cost: $54,000
Location: site of current Seeley G. Mudd Library
Destroyed: April 1974
The architects of the Carnegie Library were Van Ryn and De Gelleke of Milwaukee. Construction began in September, 1905 and, with some interruption during the winter, continued for about a year. The cost of the building, including connection with the heating plant, was about $54,000; and Andrew Carnegie generously added about $4,000 to his original gift.
The building measured about 75 by 100 feet and had a basement and two stories. The University offices were established in this building in the summer of 1909. In the early 1920s, art, Bible, and German were taught on the second floor and politics and accounting, in the basement.
In 1906, the library held 22,754 volumes, including 900 books in the Jones Memorial Library. In 1974, the library contained approximately 190,000 volumes.