FIRST FLOOR PLAN [p. 60]
 

     Throughout the planning of the library, the use of materials 
was carefully studied with a view to avoiding monotony. 
The low buildings and the entrance on High Street 
are of the same stone as the Memorial Quadrangle with a 
variation in the method of cutting and setting the blocks. On 
the Wall and York Street fronts a different stone trim was 
introduced to add interest to the texture of the walls. 
     In general, the ornamentation of the building symbolizes 
the history of libraries and books. The history of Yale 
College is engraved on the stones of Harkness, but in the 
words of Mr. Rogers: "A library has a broader field. As a 
general scheme the Main or Entrance Hall will contain in 
its decoration the history of the Yale Library, but the decoration 
in other places will symbolize the history and universality 
of the libraries of the world." 
     As the visitor passes through the portal of the great 
Entrance Hall, the main delivery desk confronts him at the 
far end. The architecture of the room leaves no doubt as to 
the memorial purpose of the building. Constructed in the 
form of a great nave with vaulted aisles and clerestoried 
lighting, it avoids too churchlike a character through the 
introduction of leaded glass in which colour is largely
supplanted by intricate patterning in leadwork. A painted wood 
ceiling of rather simple design helps to preserve a secular 
character. 
     In its ornament the Entrance Hall relates entirely to 
Yale. The panels over the pier arches record significant 
events in the development of the library, while the windows, 
which are very fine, represent contemporary events in the 
history of the college. The twelve stone corbels supporting 
the ceiling beams bear emblems representing such distinguished 
benefactors of the early days as Abraham Pierson, 
James Pierpont, Elihu Yale, and Benjamin Franklin. On 
the eleven bosses which decorate the great arch before the 
crossing are carved scenes from the manuscript Speculum
presented by Governor Yale in 1715. The field bosses of the