Butler Library.

You probably know it for the stacks, its expansive reading rooms, and its trademark checkerboard hallways, but not too many people are familiar with Butler’s hidden gem, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Located on the sixth floor of Butler, the glass façade of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library stands out from the rooms around it.

Michael Ryan, the Library’s director, described what can be found inside.

“The Rare Book and Manuscript Library is Columbia’s principal depository for special collections, that’s is to say, for things that are considered to be rare books, manuscripts, archives, prints, ephemera, photographs, you name it,” Ryan said. “We have material going back to the second millennium B.C, clay tablets; we have a very large collection of papyri from North Africa and the Roman Empire.”

One would think that such a rare and valuable collection would be kept from Columbia students, but the library thinks otherwise.

“Mi casa es su casa,” Ryan said. "Everything that is here is open to everyone – to all Columbia students and to all researchers."

Gaining access to such a collection could be difficult, but the Rare Book and Manuscript Library makes it easy.

“All you have to do is register at the desk, and just present your Columbia ID and a driver’s license, submit your call slips for whatever it is you want to see, and be seated in the reading room and it’s brought to you,” Ryan said.

Also featured in the library is a museum-style exhibit from its collection that changes once per term. The current exhibit features the work of set designer Joseph Urban.

“Urban is one of the most understudied and under-remembered designers and artists in the twentieth century and yet he was responsible for some of the century’s most memorable creations,” Ryan said. “He did more set designs, for example, for the Metropolitan Opera than any other single designer.”

The exhibit room, however, remains for the most part empty. One of the biggest challenges for the library is getting students to come view its exhibits and take advantage of its large collection for research.

Despite the lack of awareness about the library, Ryan is quick to remind students that all are welcome.

“We do not vet credentials, so, undergraduates, please come join us,” Ryan said. “We would love to have you.”