Harry Widener was a 1907 Harvard alumnus and an avid book collector.  He wanted to bring the best of Europe’s books to America.  Once he finally found the jewel of his collection, he headed back to America.  Tragically, he was aboard the Titanic and did not survive the trip.  His mother, Eleanor, donated $3.5 million to the university to build a library in his memory.  It is a grand building, boasting columns, a marble hall and domed ceiling.  However, one of Eleanor’s terms was that the university could not alter the exterior of the building, or else its ownership would revert to the City of Cambridge.  As the library’s collection grew (it’s one of Harvard’s series of libraries, and together they constitute the largest academic library in the world) the university needed more space to store all the books.  So, they dug down.  Deep.  They built four stories below the library, and an additional library – the Pusey Library – alongside it deep in the dirt.  And that is where I found myself on Friday, without any breadcrumbs or a walkie-talkie.  I had to get down there in a small, slow elevator that shuddered.  Shuddered.  The doors opened upon rows and rows of metallic shelves filled with books, lit by flickering fluorescent lighting.  I was alone.  Very.  In fact, these areas are so infrequently frequented that the lighting is activated by motion sensor. 

Dispatch from the Library | Amandachusetts Saturday, February 15, 2014 @ 6:51pm