John Hay Library

Built In

1910

History

When the holdings of Brown University Library had outgrown its first building, Andrew Carnegie donated half of the $300,000 required to build this new library. At Carnegie's request, it was named after John Hay, Brown Class of 1858 who had died in 1905. Designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, this English Renaissance building is constructed of marble from Vermont. Unexpectedly, the library needed more space just twenty years after this building opened. In 1939, Coolidge, Shepley, Bullfinch and Abbott designed a new brick wing. When the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library opened in 1964, the special collections stayed at the Hay Library and as well as the Physical Sciences Library until the Sciences Library was built. In 1981, the Hay was rededicated after an extensive renovation by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott. The Hay now houses the special collections and university's archives.