Richardson Memorial Library was the first major gift to the art museum, the bequeathal of Mary Danah McMurray Richardson (1851-1911) in honor of her husband, Joseph Clifford Richardson (1849-1899). Mary Richardson's niece Henrietta McMurray More formally unveiled the public research library April 18, 1915. Her husband, Sanskrit scholar Paul More, delivered the dedicatory address.
Museum architect Cass Gilbert designed the original Richardson Memorial Library in three former exhibition spaces. This tripartite scheme provided a memorial entrance vestibule, a staffed collections area, and a bookcase-lined reading room. The domed vestibule featured murals by Elmer Ellsworth Garnsey and a bust of the library's namesake by George Julian Zolnay. Early library acquisitions included gifts from Mary M.S. Barclay, William K. Bixby, Halsey Ives, and J. Pierpont Morgan, and the purchase of books from the estate of New York architect Russell Sturgis.
The library has relocated twice since its opening. In 1938, it moved to the first floor of the museum. In 1979, it moved to a purpose-built space in a new administration building designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in collaboration with library consultant Robert Walsh.
The Library includes the Museum's Archives (established 1975) and staff also maintain a branch location in the Museum's Conservation Department. Additional Library resources are maintained in the Museum's Print Study Room and may be consulted in the Library with advance notice.