Design
The building was designed by the architect Solon S. Beman and modeled after Beman's Merchant Tailors Building, the domed temple facing the lagoon in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and the Erechtheum at the Athenian Acropolis. Greek Mythology teaches that Demeter, the goddess, bestowed agriculture and civilization upon the world during Erechtheus's reign. The library's rotunda murals have thematic titles: "Labor", "Literature", "Art" and "Science".
The following is a summary of the building's features: Tiffany style dome; Marble column and walls in the rotunda and foyer; 4 overhead rotunda murals painted by Oliver Dennett Grover, mural painter for the World Columbian Exposition; 1 in (2.5 cm) square Italian marble mosaic flooring; glass-floored mezzanine; 2,800 pounds (1,300 kg) bronze plate, solid copper core outer front doors; 2 150 pounds (68 kg) lbs. bronze and glass inner doors; 12 inches (30 cm) thick granite walls; and ionic columns.
The building's adult reading room is equipped with mahogany furniture specifically designed for the space. It also contains matching built-in shelving and custom-made bronze lamps. The circulation desk area has two-tiered bronze-trimmed book stacks. The mezzanine floor is composed of glass blocks.
Read more about this topic: Blackstone Library
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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