The fifty-foot-high vaulted ceiling in the Bates Hall reading room resembled a European cathedral. The magnificent, 218-foot-long by 42-foot-wide room features busts and engravings of famous Americans, dramatic arched windows, stone pillars and pilasters, a sandstone canopy, plus iconic green-glass reading lamps. The namesake is Joshua Bates. His financial gift founded the Boston Public Library in 1852.
