This reading room remains one of the most significant spaces in the Boston Public Library. Named in honor of its benefactor, Joshua Bates, the room is 218 feet long, 42.5 feet wide, 50 feet high, and lighted by 15 arched and grilled windows.

In a letter to the Boston mayor, Bates wrote: “"The building shall be such as to be an ornament to the City, that there shall be a room for one hundred to one hundred and fifty persons to sit at reading tables, and that it be perfectly free to all."

Thanks to the creativity and architectural skills of Charles Follen McKim, the Bates Room houses a magnificent barrel-arched ceiling, English oak bookcases, and an ornately carved limestone balcony.