The Grade II-listed library was designed by Basil Champneys in 1903 and opened by John Morley the following year. Specially for this opening, "Demeter" was written by Robert Bridges and performed for the first time. Somerville Library was the first purpose-built library in the women's colleges of the university. With some foresight it was designed to contain 60,000 volumes, although the college only possessed 6,000 when it was opened. It now holds around 120,000 items (95,000 on open shelves), making it one of the largest college libraries in the university.