Library Facilites

The Charles Deering Library opened on January 3, 1933 and served as Northwestern University's library until 1970 when the new, main library building was completed. The Deering Library presently houses the Government Publications Department and the University Archives on the first floor, the Music Library on the second floor, and the Map Collection, the Art Reference Collection and the Special Collections Department on the third floor.

The Deering Library was designed by the renowned architect James Gamble Rogers who also designed the South Quads, Dyche Stadium, and Scott Hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus as well as most of the buildings on the University's Chicago campus. Rogers also designed numerous other academic buildings including the Harkness Quads and the Sterling Library at Yale.

Deering's architectural style is modified gothic and its thematic inspiration is King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England. Construction of Deering began in 1931 and took two years at a cost of $1.25 million,donated in the main by the Deering and McCormick families, generous benefactors of Northwestern University for over a century. The Library was named after Charles Deering ( 1852-1927), son of William Deering, naval officer, manufacturer, art patron and collector, civic leader and philanthropist.

Constructed of Wisconsin Lannon stone, Indiana Bedford Limestone, Briar Hill sandstone, Winona Travertine, granite, and concrete by skilled craftsmen, the Deering Library features magnificent window medallions designed by G. Owen Bonawit and superb wood and stone carvings by sculptor Rene Chambellan. University Librarian Theodore Wesley Koch worked closely with James Gamble Rogers in planning details of the building's interior and exterior. Encompassing 1,500,000 cubic feet with a floor area of 90,000 square feet the Deering Library was extensively renovated in the early 1970s and in the early 1980s a comprehensive heating/ventilation/air conditioning system was installed to provide a sound temperature and humidity controlled environment for the Library's invaluable collections.