Doors open from the corridor into the special libraries extending around the building on all four sides of the court. Here are the Bowditch, Ticknor, Barton, and Brown collections, with other of the more valuable books in a series of fine rooms furnished with tables for students. In the Barton Library now stands the bronze statue of Sir Harry Vane, by MacMonnies—an interesting work which looks somewhat too large for its present position, and will probably be placed elsewhere.

The great central court, open to the sky, is not only a well-spring of light, but also a most satisfactory addition to the vast resources of the building. The public is admitted at all times to its marble arcade, which through many months of the year will serve as an open-air Reading-room of delightful retirement. The cloistered enclosure, like an old Italian courtyard, with the wide grass-plot stretching inward to a central basin, is extremely dignified and beautiful. A Bacchante, the gift of Mr. McKim, will adorn the fountain; this is the original by MacMonnies, a replica of which has been sold to the French Government for the Luxembourg. The arcade supports a marble balcony, always accessible from the main floor. Above this, the walls are of yellow brick, with deep-set windows, ornamental cornice, and medallions. On one side a church-tower, cutting into the sky, overhangs them picturesquely. There is no other suggestion of the outer world.

In the arrangement of the main library its growth has been carefully considered, and there is ample room for extension as need requires. It is now shelved in six stories of stacks between Blagden Street and the court. To these stacks the public is not admitted; but all are provided with pneumatic tubes through which written orders for books pass from Bates Hall and the Delivery-room. An automatic railway of extraordinary ingenuity conveys the books thus ordered to an inner service-room on the main floor. These inventive triumphs supplement and concentrate the labor of the working force which is graded by competitive examination. The attendants in the highest grade are specialists, standing ready to put their knowledge and training at the disposal of any student who may consult them.