Mansueto Library, designed by Chicago-based architect Helmut Jahn, consists of a glass-domed reading room, above high-density closed bookstacks which can be accessed through an automated storage and retrieval system.

[1] Mansueto allows the university to maintain the vast majority of its library holdings on campus in a centrally located facility, while creating space to accommodate new acquisitions for approximately 20 years.

Among these was a Distinguished Building Award from the American Institute of Architects Chicago Chapter in 2011.

In 2013, the makers of the film Divergent, interested in the unique glass design of the library, used Mansueto in a scene of the futuristic dystopian film, allowing select undergraduates to take part in the process.

[7] The library has also been a part of a handful of items within the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, better known amongst the faculty and students as Scav.