Hatcher Graduate Library - Michigan's Book Vault

A stop on University of Michigan Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The big brick building with towering windows on the south edge of the Diag is the Hatcher Graduate Library, the flagship of one of the largest university library systems in the country. Albert Kahn, the Detroit architect behind several other buildings on this walk, designed the original building, dedicated in January 1920. An eight-story addition went up behind it in 1970, and today Hatcher holds more than 3.5 million volumes in over 300 languages. It is named for Harlan Hatcher, the university's eighth president.

The library's story starts long before this building. In 1839, when Michigan was a brand-new state and the university had barely begun, the regents spent $970 on John James Audubon's Birds of America, the enormous hand-colored book of life-size birds. It was the library's first purchase, and the university still owns it; Hatcher shows it in its gallery exhibit room.

A skyway links Hatcher to the Shapiro Library next door, so students can drift between the two without stepping outside. Take a moment at the entrance to admire Kahn's stately facade.

Getting here: Walk a few steps south from the M to the big brick library facing the Diag.

Did you know?: Up on Hatcher's sixth floor is a Heritage Edition of The Saint John's Bible, a modern Bible written out and illuminated by hand in the medieval way.

Photo op: Back up onto the Diag lawn and frame the full sweep of tall windows with the trees of the Diag at the edges of the picture.

More on Wikipedia: University of Michigan Library · Albert Kahn · Harlan Hatcher · The Birds of America

Hatcher Graduate Library - Michigan's Book Vault

Stops on this tour