During the First World War the university library, then housed in the University Hall, was destroyed by fire. In the 1920s, a new library was built in Flemish Renaissance style on the Mgr. Ladeuzeplein mainly thanks to American funding. On the outside and in the gallery the names of over 300 American educational institutes having contributed to its construction are carved. The carillon in the tower - with its 63 bells one of the largest in the country - is a gift of 16 American engineer associations.
The library houses more than three million volumes.