The children of Robert Knight spared no expense in the library memorializing their parents. The architect, Edward L. Tilton of New York, began his career with McKim, Mead and White, and developed a specialization in libraries, working on many of those funded by Andrew Carnegie. Knight Memorial shares the Beaux Arts style seen in the main public libraries in both Boston and the downtown Providence Public Library.
The main circulation area, which originally functioned as the Delivery Room, is patterned after the architecture of the atrium, or central open court, of an ancient Roman house. Twelve massive fluted columns, crowned with volutes of Ionic design, connect the Kasota-marbled floor to the coffered ceiling and skylight above. Casts of large sections of the famous frieze in the Parthenon decorate the walls just above the columns.
Off to the sides are several rooms and vestibules including the Rhode Island Room and Collections, and a map viewing room, later used to house the James N. Arnold Collection of genealogies and vital records. These special collections are now housed in Providence Public Library. Hidden from view, behind the card catalog and opaque glass panels, is a working area for library staff. To the right of the main entrance to the library is the Board Room. Mezzanine galleries provide more space, including Webster Knight’s office (the Knight Room) and open gallery areas, which originally displayed art and documents with Rhode Island themes.
A radio broadcast of 1946 summarized the scene in the library in its heyday:
..”The reading room is as inviting as a private club, walled with ranks of fiction and stocked with current periodicals; the reference room is a common resort for students and writers and research workers, and especially for ex-servicemen who want to plan their next steps toward security. The collections of Rhode Island historical ..material.. bring visitors from as far away as California..”
