The building was designed by the Philadelphia firm of Day & Klauder as part of their overall master plan for the university's central campus, which featured a consistent Georgian Revival architectural style.

The two campuses were separated by about half a mile of sparsely developed "no man's land", which was purchased on behalf of Delaware College by Pierre S. du Pont in 1915.

"[3] Due to the unsatisfactory nature of the existing library facilities the new building became a high priority for both Mitchell and his successor, Walter Hullihen, who oversaw the merger of the men's and women's colleges to form the University of Delaware in 1921.

Funding difficulties forced Hullihen to scale back the grand design of Day and Klauder to a more modest building capable of housing 100,000 volumes.

The situation was eventually resolved by securing additional pledges from the existing donors and by modifying the library design to reduce the construction cost.

It was the first facility shared by the women's and men's colleges (which continued to operate separately until 1945), and its prominent location halfway between the two at the center of the Green made the library the focal point of the campus.

[2] The brick archways on either side of the building, added in 1940,[5] became known as the "kissing arches" due to their location on the dividing line between the male and female student populations.

[6] On July 5, 1937, heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout much of the university campus including the Memorial Library stacks, which were located in the basement.

The building features a Georgian Revival architectural style "reminiscent of Jefferson's designs for the University of Virginia", with exterior walls of Flemish bond brickwork and white wooden trim.

During the 1940 rebuilding the central hall was expanded to the south to provide a new above-ground space for the library stacks, and gable-roofed extensions were added to the east and west wings.