It was never realized, however, as large portions of University Hall would have had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate the extra weight of the books, and the project was deemed too expensive.

[3]: 196–197 In December 1930, Butler changed his request to Harkness, now asking him to fund a completely new building to be placed on South Field, facing Low Library from across 116th Street.

On commencement day in 1989, several students attempted to unfurl a banner above the main inscription containing the names of prominent female authors including Sappho, Virginia Woolf, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, all of whom were white.

A new banner was placed above the inscription in 2019 as a piece of protest art with the endorsement of the Columbia University Libraries, this one containing the names of women authors of color, including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Zora Neale Hurston.

[9] The 2016 decision to place a copy of Reclining Figure 1969–70, a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, in front of Butler Library was protested by students, who described the statue as "ugly" and "kind of evil".

The building is ten stories tall, with two small wings on either side with brick façades in a Flemish bond pattern and limestone trim, intended to connect it visually with the rest of the Columbia campus.

[3]: 199  The building's façade is adorned with a three-story colonnade of fourteen columns of the Ionic order which echoes that of Low Library, copper lanterns, and cast iron marquees.

The composition is anchored by the figure of Athena, echoing the large Alma Mater sculpture in front of Low Library in the center of the campus.

[18][6] It also plays a role in Paul Auster's 2009 novel Invisible: the novel's main protagonist, Adam Walker, takes a job as a page in the library's stacks.