Low Memorial Library is the most popular and central structure in Columbia University?s Morningside Heights campus and is also the administrative headquarters of the university. Personally financed by then university president Seth Low as a tribute to his father, the construction of the library started in 1895 and was completed in 1897. Today, it houses the offices of the University President and the Provost, as well as the headquarters of Columbia?s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences which offers M.A. and Doctorate degrees in several disciplines.

Low Memorial Library is revered as one of the finest piece of architecture not only within Columbia University, but in the entire New York City. Designed employing the neoclassical style, it incorporates many of the aesthetic components of the Roman temple Pantheon. It follows the form of a Greek cross with the four points marked by the four branches of knowledge: Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology.

While it is a work of art in itself, Low Memorial Library is the home to many sculptural masterpieces. One will be welcomed by bronze statues of the Zeus and Apollo. Going deeper to the foyer, students and visitors are greeted by a statue of Athena patterned after another sculpture in the Louvre Museum. At the center of Low Library is an impressive rotunda planked by green marble columns accentuated with gold capitals. Finally, the structure is crowned by the biggest freestanding granite in US soil.

In 1967, Low Memorial Library was recognized as a New York City Landmark and as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.