First announced in February 1920, the library building was a gift from Regent William L. Clements of Bay City to the University of Michigan. Clements also donated his extensive collection of Americana, valued at the time at close to $450,000, and consisting of 20,000 volumes of rare books, 2,000 volumes of early newspapers, several hundred maps, and the papers of Lord Shelburne, the British Prime Minister who negotiated the peace ending the Revolutionary War.
