Main Library, Research library in Urbana, United States.
The Main Library is a red brick Georgian Revival building designed by Charles A. Platt, completed in 1929 in a figure-eight plan with two enclosed courtyards. Its east facade has a three-bay entrance with limestone archways, a green slate roof with eleven dormers and four tall chimneys, and high arched windows. Inside, the second-floor reading room holds 27 stained glass windows showing Renaissance printer's marks.
The building opened in 1924 as the third library structure on campus, replacing an earlier facility that had become too small for the growing university. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The library's second-floor reading room has 27 stained glass windows displaying Renaissance printer's marks, and four murals by Barry Faulkner decorate the central stairwell. Plaster models of Lorado Taft's The Pioneers and of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell by David Chester French sit in the south and north lobbies.
The library sits on the western edge of the South Quad, set back from the centre of campus. Enter from the east facade, where two limestone sculptures flank the doorway; the plaster models of Lorado Taft's The Pioneers and French's Gallaudet and Cogswell sit in the south and north lobbies. The second-floor reading room holds 27 stained glass windows of Renaissance printer's marks.
The building follows a figure-eight floor plan with two enclosed courtyards, a layout that stood apart from the rectangular designs common on campus at the time. This arrangement allows natural light to reach the interior from multiple directions throughout the day.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,729 contributors worldwide.