Architectural History of Sterling Memorial Library

Librarian's Courtyard

Students in the Librarian's Courtyard.

The Librarian’s Courtyard (also called the Farrand Courtyard) is the only remaining exterior courtyard in Sterling Memorial Library (SML). It is named for its proximity to the Librarian’s wing of the building, where the SML administrative offices and the office of the University Librarian are housed.

In the vestibule entry to the Librarian’s Courtyard, eight corbels depict the heads of Yale librarians: a representation of the Senior Tutor, before 1805; James Luce Kingsley, 1805-1824; Josiah Willard Gibbs, 1824-1843; Edward Claudius Herrick, 1843-1858; Daniel Coit Gilman, 1858-1865; Addison Van Name, 1865-1905; John Christopher Schwab, 1905-1916; and Andrew Keogh, 1916-1938. There have been nine additional University Librarians since Sterling was constructed. Three of the four most recent University Librarians -- Alice Prochaska, 2001-2010; Susan Gibbons, 2011-2020; and Barbara Rockenbach, 2020-present -- have been women.

Sterling Memorial Library Librarian's Courtyard plan, April 1930

The courtyard’s landscape design is by Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959), who served as Yale’s Consulting Landscape Gardener from 1923 until approximately 1945. Farrand designed the landscapes for at least 16 Yale buildings during her tenure. She designed the landscaping and the fountain in the Librarian’s Courtyard. Most of the elements of Farrand’s design remain, but the English Elms at the center of the original plan are no longer present.