Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/282

258 from the ground. The order of architecture is the Italian Renaissance, the central front and corner pavilions being projected to relieve the monotony of the long façade.

The base or lower storey of the building is in white rusticated granite, the upper walls being of smooth bush-hammered granite. The roofing is throughout of sheet copper. The centre dome over the reading-room is covered thickly by gold leaf, which it is expected will prove to be a more economical finish than paint requiring frequent renewal.

The chief entrance is in the centre of the frontage, facing the Capitol, and gives admittance by bold flights of outside stairs to a large hall, 100 feet square (Fig. 117), containing staircases, elevators, cloak-rooms, and other offices. At the back, and in the exact centre of the site, as shown in Fig. 117, is the reading-room. This is an octagonal hall, 100 feet in diameter and 125 feet in height, lit by eight semicircular windows, each 32 feet wide. It is seated for 250 readers, allowing to each a desk 4 feet in width. The superintendent's desk is on an elevated platform in the centre, commanding a view of the whole room. The interior walls are covered with light-coloured marble, the eight massive pillars supporting the ceiling having bases of dark chocolate marble.

Opening out of the reading-room on either side are the stack-rooms for the storage of the books. They are 45 feet in width and 112 feet in length. The height of each room is 65 feet, and they contain