Linsly-Chittenden Hall, LC

Yale’s main library today, of course, is none other than Sterling Memorial Library. But Sterling is the culmination of a decades-long challenge to expand Yals and its collections while preserving its history. Linsly-Chittenden (LC) is a central part of that story. Though now home to classrooms and the English faculty, LC originally served as a library. First came Chittenden Hall in 1890, or as it was known at the time, Chittenden Memorial Library. One can identify the Chittenden part by the prominent octagonal projection at the Chapel Street end of the building, originally its main reading room. Chittenden was connected by a small passage to what is now Dwight Hall, which in fact, had also been built as a library—or as it was referred to, the “Old Library,” designed by Henry Austin. As Yale desperately needed more space for its growing collections, a plan was proposed to demolish Dwight Hall, and extend Chittenden along High Street to the western side of Old Campus. But rather than destroy an important part of Yale’s architectural history, the university built Linsly Hall between Chittenden and Dwight Hall in 1907, and Sterling Memorial Library in 1930; Linsly-Chittenden was subsequently converted into classrooms and faculty offices. Ultimately, Linsly-Chittenden speaks to the tension between growth and preservation, and to the way architectural plans are repeatedly changed and adapted as the needs of a place evolve.