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neral: by 1914, the university had 4,225 students. The overcrowding was slightly alleviated in 1910 when the law library relocated to the newly built Kent Hall. Two years later, Avery Hall opened. The Avery Architectural Library, too, had outgrown its space at Low. The increasing overcrowding led Columbia's newspaper to say in a 1924 article, "'Library' is a misnomer for an edifice designed for the benefit of sightseers." In a 1921 report, Butler said: "Pressure upon the Library of the University has become such as well nigh to paralyze it." In the university's annual report that year, Butler suggested that a library could be created in University Hall, completion of which had been delayed over the years. A 1923 guidebook reported: "The room seats 152 readers, 15,000 reference volumes arranged on the shelves. The library contains in all about 835,000 volumes, beside pamphlets, manuscripts, and 50,000 d octoral dissertations." Charles C. Williamson, who was appointed Dean of the Columbia School of Library Service in 1926, wrote to Butler the following August, suggesting the creation of a new library. In his letter, Williamson said that "a condition has been reached which threatens to hamper the growth and development of the University". Williamson suggested that Columbia's library system needed space for at least four million volumes. Low's rotunda had become overcrowded with a reference collection, while the card catalogs could not be sufficiently accommodated in the building. Williamson began soliciting funds from philanthropist and Columbia alumnus Edward Harkness, and he commissioned James Gamble Rogers to design a new library. Rogers's ambitious plan to complete University Hall also included a bridge and tunnel connecting it with Low. As part of this plan, the north wing of the library would have been gutted and replaced with a staircase leading to t he bridge. The plan was never realized, however, as large portions of University Hall would have had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate the extra weight of the books, and the project was deemed too expensive. In December 1930, Butler asked that Harkness fund a completely new building on South Field, facing Low from across 116th Street. Rogers devised a final design for South Hall (now Butler Library) in April 1931. The new library, which Harkness agreed to fund that May, would be able to hold four million volum