For many Blue Hens, Hugh M. Morris Library is the heart of campus.

A novel place

Article by Diane Stopyra Photos by Evan Krape and Kathy F. Atkinson June 26, 2025

Morris Library is integral to every student story

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the spring 2025 issue of UD Magazine, which celebrates iconic campus spaces.

Club Morris may feel like an odd choice for a library nickname. It conjures techno music and tequila shots — not stern-faced librarians shushing patrons over stacks of dusty periodicals. But the University of Delaware’s Hugh M. Morris Library bucks the stuffy stereotype. While you’ll be hard-pressed to find any DJs or drinks, this is very much a social space.

“The library is a great connector,” says neuroscience major Paige Elsner, AS25. “Students gather here to study but also to feel a sense of camaraderie. It’s easy to be yourself in this building.”

Club Morris, as it’s affectionately known by students, is full of fine print and finer vibes.

Morris was built in 1963 when it became clear UD needed more space than Memorial Hall, which housed the University’s original library, could provide. (A makeshift conveyor belt was erected to transport books from one building to the other.) The new space was named for Hugh M. Morris, an 1898 alumni, football player and prominent U.S. district judge from Wilmington.

Today, the four-story hub includes nearly 3 million books and bound periodicals, as well as 450,000 electronic books. It’s also home to a Special Collections department brimming with especially rare materials (look for a signed copy of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation). For the Blue Hen’s technological needs, a multimedia design center boasts computers, sound studios, video editing equipment, GoPros and more.

For good luck on exams, students should study, get a good night’s sleep and … rub Hugh’s nose? It holds true at UD, where Blue Hens on their way in and out of Morris Library swipe the bronze beak of the building’s namesake, an 1898 alumni turned federal District Court judge.

While many other academic libraries include mostly “rabbit warrens,” or small, dark, cordoned-off areas, the floor plan of Club Morris is largely open, airy and light, according to Shelly McCoy, associate university librarian for public services and space planning. Easy-to-navigate thoroughfares lend themselves to seeing and meeting fellow Blue Hens — in fact, only one reading room is designated as a “quiet” area. Everywhere else you look, student groups are writing on whiteboards, commiserating over a particularly tricky equation, or taking a coffee break in The Nest cafe. Library staff encourage this communal vibe by bringing in pizza, photo booths, and even therapy dogs during especially high-stress periods.

To ensure everyone knows they’re welcome, Morris librarians work to meet the needs of a diverse student body. A lactation room, a Reflection Room for prayer or meditation and the Open Space study room created by UD’s LGBTQ+ community have all opened since 2017. Most recently, to accommodate caregivers, the library has fundraised for desks that double as playpens.

Unlike many academic libraries, the floor plan of Club Morris is largely open, airy and light.

But, for all the hype, students do have one complaint about their beloved Club Morris. According to Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, Blue Hens wish the building could be open 24 hours. (Yes, even holidays).

“This space is absolutely essential to the UD experience,” he says. “The students really do think of Morris as the place to be on campus.”