 The Victorian Gothic building, designed by Henry Austin and considered an extravagance in its day, was modeled after Gore Hall, the library of Harvard College.Two university-affiliated literary societies, Linonia and Brothers in Unity, were given rooms in the library for their 10,000-book collections, as was the collection of the American Oriental Society.As the collection swelled beyond the building's 50,000-book capacity, it became necessary to add annex buildings to the Library