His son, Cass Gilbert Jr. was a partner with Francis Keally in the design of the library's additional wings added in 1963.

In 1944, Cass Gilbert Jr. and Francis Keally were named architects for an addition that would extend wings to the north and south.

Construction began on the wings in 1957 after Common Council authorized the first issue of library bonds for financing.

As part of the addition, a triptych mural was added to the west wall of Adam Strohm Hall on the third floor.

The mural by local artist John Stephens Coppin is entitled Man's Mobility and depicts a history of transportation.

For example, an authentic Pewabic Fireplace designed and executed by Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace James Caulkins depicts fairy tales and children's fables.

The frieze illustrates The Owl and the Birds from Aesop's Fables, and the subjects of each tile include Pocahontas and John Smith, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Ulysses from The Odyssey, Tar Baby and B'rer Rabbit, Hansel and Gretel, the Tin Soldier, Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Aladdin, Mowgli and the Bear from The Jungle Book, and Robinson Crusoe.

[1] The current Children's Room contains a series a mosaics designed and executed by Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan and Dani Katsir.

These works include Read (2015), Healthy Living (2016), Under the Sea (2016), Music (2016), Sports (2016), Transportation (2016), and Earth (2017).

The Burton Historical Collection was opened to the public in 1916, and in 1921 it was moved to the newly constructed Main Library.

Items in the room include seats from Tiger Stadium at Michigan and Trumbull and a mock broadcast booth.

[10] The library accepts donations to this collection related to sports history, with special consideration given to baseball, Ernie Harwell, or the Detroit Tigers.

The room's entrance includes black ebony doors engraved with the names of notable craftsmen in the development of the art of printing.

The doors are flanked by polished bronze grilles in fleur-de-lis design, suggesting the gold tooling of 16th century fine book binding and based on the work of Jean Grolier.