A leader in early twentieth-century innovative library design, architect Edward L. Tilton incorporated the open floor plan that had become popular at the turn of the century and shifted book storage to below the main floor. Three levels of stacks, constructed of cast iron, stored library materials and supported the main floor, reserving the main floor for reading, research and deliveries.
The doors of the original elevator, which linked all levels of the building, can be seen on the mezzanine level. A hand-cranked book elevator was also used to transport materials between floors.
On the wall behind the circulation desk, near the stacks, is a framed dedication to Sarah Waldo Lippit Knight (1858 - 1934), an active supporter of the library, who, like her husband, Webster Knight, came from a wealthy industrial family.
