Grand Reading Room

Walk around either side of the Circulation desk

Enter the Grand Reading Room, which provides an exceptional environment for the Lehigh community and public to study and use library resources.

Each side of the circulation desk features a Special Collections exhibit display case. These cases often feature the most exciting and visually stunning materials in the exhibit. Be sure to take a look at the current and past exhibits online.

Walk around the reading room

Browse the reference collection on the outer shelves, with the inner shelves holding Epitome Yearbooks, Life Magazines, new acquisitions, and leisure reading.

The west end of the room is home to public use PCs and printers. 

The east end of the room houses the juvenile fiction collection, located next to a functioning fireplace.

Much of the reading room, including the fireplace, is trimmed in hand-carved English oak. Pictured is one of te supporting columns.

When the library was renovated in 2007, the Reading Room was restored to how it would have appeared at its opening in 1928. This included reapplying the gold leaf ceiling accents that had been painted over. The light fixtures are not original, but were chosen to match the architecural design of the room.

Each window around the outside of the room features a unique stained glass medallion. Each of these medallions represent one of the disciplines that were taught at Lehigh at the time the library addition was built in 1928.