On each of the four upper corners on the library building are two pairs of large reliefs, each a somewhat abstracted landscape. The medium is somewhat of a mystery to us, possibly terra cotta, possibly cast concrete. Equally mysterious to us is the artist, as the library doesn'r seem to mention the reliefs on its website.
This is the university's fourth library, the third on campus. The first on campus was built in 1903 and the library moved into the ground floor in 1908. That building is now known as Jeannette Rankin Hall. In 1921 a dedicated library building was completed and served until 1970, when construction on a new University Library began. The 1921 building is now the Social Science Building.
The fourth and fifth floors of the library were completed in November 1978, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The following fall the University Library was named after Ambassador Mike Mansfield and his wife Maureen. In 1992, the Library implemented an online catalog and in May 2000, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library marked an historic milestone when it added its one-millionth volume.