In 2011 Memorial Library established the Library Purchase Award at the Annual Student Honors Art Exhibition as a way to expand and diversify art displayed in the library, as well as preserving the college's cultural heritage. The winner of the $250 award is selected by the exhibition juror and the winning pieces are displayed throughout the library.
Woven PanelsThe woven panels that hang at the top of the library's main staircase was commissioned and given to Memorial Library by Jorge & Ondina Gonzales, in memory of their mothers, Luisa Garcia Acosta and Ondina Diaz Navarro. Dr. Jorge Gonzales was professor of religion at Berry; Mrs. Ondina Gonzales was director of Memorial Library from 1976 to her retirement in 1995.
The weaving was commissioned for the most recent expansion of Memorial Library, for which the dedication ceremony was held in May 1989. The pattern is called "Lee's Surrender"; the college Handicrafts Supervisor at the time did the research, design and weaving for the commission. Joy Padgett Johnson '73C wrote that “this historic colonial pattern, one of Berry's early patterns, was also found to be a favorite of Miss Berry during the research on the project.” According to Ms. Johnson's research Rita Van Orsdal was Handicraft Supervisor at Berry from 1986 until 1993. During that time Jennifer LeCroy was her student. Ms. LeCroy graduated in 1993 and became Handicrafts Supervisor until its closing in 2003. Ms. Van Orsdal and Ms. LeCroy both worked on the weaving.
The main panel was included in the 2015 exhibit Continuous Threads: 200 Years of Georgia Textiles at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford, Georgia, in partnership with the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance.