Welcome (or welcome back) to Baker Library!
Welcome to this online tour of Baker Library. We love welcoming visitors to our space, but please be aware that in-person stops 3-5 are accessible only to current Harvard University affiliates using an HUID or Harvard Business School Executive Education room key.
About us: Baker Library is the largest academic business library in the world and one of several dozen libraries that comprise the Harvard Library. Baker has two reading rooms - the de Gaspé Beubien Reading Room on the first floor and the Stamps Reading Room on the third floor. Each year we welcome over 60,000 visitors and answer over 7,000 research questions.
A little history: HBS was established in 1908 as the first business school in the United States. The school received a $5 million donation from George F. Baker in 1924, which provided the funding for our present campus in Allston, which was completed in 1927. The new campus' focal point was names in honor of this donation: Baker Library. A2005 library renovation preserved much of the original reading room you’ll see on the third floor, while expanding the building's footprint.
Background image description: front exterior of Baker Library, a brick building with white columns and trim. The two trees framing the front steps are in bloom.
Stop 1
The North Lobby
Head up the front steps (or through our wheelchair accessible entry on the south side of the building) into the north lobby, where you'll find our Special Collections department and exhibits. On the walls hang portraits of every HBS Dean since the School's founding in 1908.
Scholars from HBS, Harvard, and around the world use Special Collections’ de Gaspé Beaubien Reading Room, located off the North Lobby, to conduct research in the Library’s renowned collections of corporate archives, rare books, School records, and manuscripts dating from the 14th century.
It's not an official stop on the tour, but if you have time, pop down to the basement via the large staircases on the North side of the Lobby (or use our elevators) to check out additional Special Collections exhibits. Highlights include Post-15, a Depression-era stock exchange trading post from the New York Stock Exchange floor, a photographic exhibit that shows the campus being constructed, and an exhibit of cartoons from the Wall Street Journal.
Background image description: Special Collections displays and Dean portraits in the North Lobby.
Stop 2
The South Lobby
Walk through the arch into the south lobby, also known as the Baker Library | Bloomberg Exchange. The Exchange is a great place to meet colleagues, study, or take a break. There are Bloomberg financial database terminals available here for MBAs to use. The Exchange is also home to the Baker Book Cart, a take-a-book, leave-a-book cart for the community to enjoy.
Background image description: Chairs and sofas with Bloomberg terminals in the background in the Exchange.
Stop 3
The Stamps Reading Room
From the lobby, head up the stairs or elevators located on either side of the building to the Stamps Reading Room on the third floor. Remember, you’ll need your HUID or Executive Education room key to tap in. The Stamps Reading Room is a one-stop shop for asking questions, borrowing books, accessing onsite databases, or just studying quietly.
Things to see:
The Service Desk: Stop by just to say hi or ask one of our librarians a question. We're here to help! This is also where HUID holders can check out or pick up books requested via HOLLIS, the Harvard Library catalog.
Bloomberg terminals and the Financial Databases room: Most of our databases are available remotely, but some, like Bloomberg, are only available in the library. You'll find Bloomberg terminals to the west of the Service Desk and other in-library use databases in the Financial Databases room.
The Eliot Table: Commissioned in 1853 by former Harvard President Charles Eliot, who was instrumental in establishing the Business School, this table was later inherited by HBS’s first Dean Edwin Gay. It was moved into the reading room in 2016, and now sits in the East End. Check out the video below of the table being hoisted into the reading room via a crane through a window on the East End.
The Little Black Library: Located along the north wall, across from the service desk and next to recent HBS Faculty books, you'll find Baker's Little Black Library, a collection of literature on antiracism and the Black experience. Learn more about this organization started by an HBS MBA alumna at the Little Black Library website.
HBS Arts & Artifacts Collection: Baker Library also manages the HBS arts and artifacts collections. Check out books in the reading room on artists in the collections, and keep an eye out for all the wonderful art throughout campus.
Current Periodicals, CORE, and Reference: Current periodicals (new journal issues), the CORE collection (HBS faculty books and other business classics), and the reference collection (data not covered in databases) are housed in the reading room. Many more of our print collections are located in the stacks.
Background image description: Stamps Reading Room facing east, with wooden arches, columns, desks, and bookcases.
Stop 4
The Annex
Adjacent to the reading room is the Annex, a collaborative study area. This is a great place to work with a group - there's a large meeting room. Or you can take a phone call or have a Zoom meeting in one of the individual meeting rooms. The elevator to the stacks is located here too.
The Annex is also where you'll find our water fountain, copiers/scanners, and restrooms.
Background image description: Group study tables and large meeting room in the Annex.
Stop 5
The Stacks
From the elevator in the Annex, head down to the stacks level "S," where you'll find more of our collections. If you need help locating anything, just let us know! The stacks house our microforms and readers, older issues of magazines, statistical sources, and other publications.
We often say this is the quietest (and coldest) spot on campus. If you're someone who needs to study in silence and solitude, the stacks are for you. Just be sure to bring a sweater!
Background image description: Gray collapsible book shelves with multicolored books.
To exit, take the elevator back up to the third floor. We hope to see you again soon!
Find more information and library resources at www.library.hbs.edu