New England Carnegies

A site that honors the libraries that Andrew Carnegie helped to fund

Williston Memorial Library

Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts

Designed by George F. Newton

Gothic Revival Style

Mount Holyoke College, 50 College Street, South Hadley MA  01075

Library web site: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/

A Brief History of the Building

1903:  Andrew Carnegie gave $50,000 to the college to build the library.

1905:  The library was built with an interior to resemble Westminster Hall in England.

1917:  The facility was named for Asahel Lyman Williston (1834- ?), a Northampton businessman who was a long-time trustee and treasurer of the college.

1935:  An addition was built.

1968:  An addition was built.

1990-1992:  A 30,000-foot wing was added to the building.  The atrium was modeled after the Medici Library in Florence, Italy.

2003:  The information commons was added.

2009 photos