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 […]
Category: Columbia University Archives
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 […]
New Directions in Libraries: Now and Low
Working from home (and via Zoom) means that we don’t get to see students rushing across campus to get to classes, clustered at reading room tables, or sitting on the steps of Low Library. Columbia librarians are discovering new and innovative ways to reach our now all-remote users, which is part of a long and […]
Columbia’s Response to Other Pandemics
Students sent home mid-semester; online classes; non-essential staff and faculty working remotely; the cancellation of commencement. As the Columbia community continues to deal with the ever evolving COVID-19 health crisis, you may be wondering how Columbia responded to previous pandemics and health crises in New York City. There are two interesting tales to be told. […]