Carnegie Building

Once Oberlin’s main library, Carnegie is now home to geology department classrooms, labs, and offices.

Important administrative offices are also located here, including the Office of Financial Aid, Office of Student Accounts, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office of Student Employment. 

Situated on the northeast corner of Professor and Lorain Streets, the building, originally Carnegie Library, was a gift of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Constructed of Amherst sandstone and designed by architects Patton and Miller of Chicago, the four-story building opened in 1908 and included classrooms, a faculty room, a large reading room, private offices, a  biographical library room, the cataloging room, and a seminar room.

Despite a large rear addition in 1940, the library space became insufficient and unable to support newer library functions. The Seeley G. Mudd Learning Center became the new home of Oberlin College Library in 1974.

Carnegie was reconfigured as administrative offices were relocated to the building. The historic Root Room on the second floor, named after the college’s first librarian, is the site of large campus and community functions such as the employee awards program, campus housing fair, admissions socials for parents and families, and the twice-yearly ExCo Fair.