Opened in 1931, the library was designed by James Gamble Rogers as the centerpiece of Yale's Gothic Revival campus.

The library is named for John W. Sterling, a lawyer representing Standard Oil, whose huge bequest to Yale required that an "enduring, useful and architecturally beautiful edifice" be built.

Sterling Library is elaborately ornamented, featuring extensive sculpture and painting as well as hundreds of panes of stained glass created by G. Owen Bonawit.

In addition to the book tower, Rogers' design featured five large reading rooms and two courtyards, one of which is now a music library.

[6] Expanding on Goodhue's tower concept, Rogers proposed the library take the form of a cathedral, which, in his own words, would be "as near to modern Gothic as we dared to make it.

"[7] He modeled the library's entrance hall to resemble a vaulted nave and commissioned extensive stained glass and stone ornament to decorate the building's exterior and interior.

[9] Although excavation began in the fall of 1927, the construction site was not fully secured until July 1928, when the final holdout homeowner agreed to sell.

At its western terminus is a chancel containing an ornate circulation desk and altarpiece mural painted by Eugene Savage.

[11] Constructed of Indiana limestone and Ohio sandstone blocks, the nave is a self-supporting stone structure with none of the steel reinforcement used elsewhere in the library.

[20] Beginning in 2013, the nave underwent a $20-million, yearlong renovation to clean its surfaces, restore its architectural details, overhaul building systems, and reconfigure visitor circulation and services.

[21][22][23] Fifteen levels of library materials, primarily books, are housed in the building's tower, commonly referred to as the "Stacks".

[8] Originally intended to house 3.5 million volumes, it is a seven-story structure, with eight mezzanine levels interleaved between the main stories.

The Memorabilia Room hosts temporary exhibitions of Yale's archival collections and university history, and serves as an antechamber to the 120-seat lecture hall.

[19] The nave is the most ornately decorated library interior, although ornamental features, particularly stained-glass windows, can be found in nearly every room in the building.

[32]: 282  The scene depicts Cro-Magnon, Egyptian, Assyrian, Hebrew, Arab, Greek, Mayan, and Chinese scholars in low relief, with inscriptions from major works in each writing system.

[19] At center is a medieval scholar, and directly above the doors are symbolic representations of major civilizations, which include a Phoenician ship, a Babylonian lamassu and the Capitoline wolf of Rome.

[19] At the western end of the nave is a fresco painted by Eugene Savage, a professor in the Yale School of Art and Architecture.

[34] 680 unique stained glass panels by G. Owen Bonawit adorn the nave, reading rooms, offices, and tower of the library.

[36] In the nave, ten high relief stone panels by Chambellan depict the history of the Yale University Library up to 1865.

[41] The women include Mary Augusta Scott, Elizabeth Deering Hanscom, Margaretta Palmer, Charlotte Fitch Roberts, Cornelia H.B.

Significant materials within Manuscripts & Archives include the papers of Charles Lindbergh, Eero Saarinen, Eli Whitney, John Maley and the audio library of Osama bin Laden.

The archive, which grew from a small collection of 16mm prints acquired for use in teaching film in 1968, was formally established in 1982 and moved to Sterling in 2021.