Taken from a higher elevation this 7"x5" black and white photograph of Whitin Library at Doane College shows a one-story brick building with a daylight basement. Nine steps lead to a landing with an additional step to the double front doors. The doors and all windows are all topped by semicircular windows. There appears to be a set of skylights on the ridge of the roof. Several other buildings appear in the background.
Whitin Library was built in 1894 and was the fourth college building on campus. It was designed by architects George and Arthur Dean of Chicago. In the fall of 1894 books were moved from Merrill Hall into the new library with the first book put in place being a valuable Bible printed in 1603 and given by Mrs. Elizabeth Koon of Arborville, Nebraska. The library at this time held a collection of nearly seven thousand books and thirty-five hundred pamphlets. In 1971 the library was moved to a new facility and the Whitin building was renovated into the art department. The structure was later torn down and a new art and education building was built using the same architectural elements from the front facade as the Whitin building.
Sources: 1) Thomas D. Perry, History of Doane College 1872 to 1912 Crete, Nebraska (Doane College Crete, Nebraska, 1957), 67-68. 2) Janet L. Jeffries, Images of America, Crete (South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2012), 70.
