Founded in 1887, the Newberry resided in three temporary homes before settling into its current location in 1893. The independent research library was designed by Henry Ives Cobb, whose taste for architectural detail and monumentality can be seen in the neo-Romanesque exterior of the building. For the interior spaces, the Newberry's first president, William Frederick Poole, insisted on toning down Cobb's grandeur in favor of more practical considerations: rooms allowing users to access reading material as easily as possible. Since opening more than 130 years ago, the Newberry has undergone a number of renovations, including a project completed in 2018 that modernized the first floor while restoring elements of the library's architectural heritage that had been obscured or lost over the years.
