Following a recently announced $10.9 million grant to support necessary core renovations at Indiana University’s world-class rare books library, Lilly Endowment Inc. will now provide an additional $500,000 to help IU commission an inspirational and iconic cycle of murals.

On December 6, 2019 the Lilly Library building closed for a once-in-a-generation renovation

On December 6, 2019 the Lilly Library building will close for a complete interior renovation. To protect our irreplaceable materials, all items will be carefully removed from the building into secure storage. Soon a majority of the collections will be available in a limited way to researchers at the Herman B Wells Library.

Among the important collections added to the Library in recent years is the "Jonathan Krause Rare Newspaper and Magazine Collection," which spans the mid-seventeenth through the late-nineteenth centuries, and has a special focus on late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American publications. There is a very strong concentration on newspapers and magazines that includes the writings of the “Founding Fathers” of the United States, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine. There are also a number of earlier newspapers and magazines relating to the American Revolution, and a focus on later American history including slavery and abolitionism, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

The building will temporarily close Dec. 6 for its first major renovations since opening in 1960. There will be limited access to some collections until construction is complete in 2021.