Presented to the college by the late Judge John Slaughter Candler of Atlanta in memory of his parents, Samuel and Martha Beall Candler, the Candler Library was designed by renowned architect Phillip Shutze with the assistance of librarian Katharine Payne Carnes and is an outstanding example of Georgian architecture. The alumnae building was renovated in 1971 as the Candler Alumnae Center and currently houses the offices of Alumnae Affairs, Institutional Advancement, and Development.

Benson Room
The ground floor is filled with artifacts from Wesleyan’s past. Many of these are on display in the Benson Room, named for Wesleyan’s first graduate, Catherine Elizabeth Brewer (Benson) of the class of 1840. In the cases are early diplomas (Wesleyan’s very first diplomas were in English, but soon a Latin version was introduced and has remained standard ever since), articles of clothing belonging to former students, and yearbooks going back to the turn of the century. On the back wall hangs a Manchu-dynasty silk robe presented to the college by Soong Ching-ling, one of the trio of famous sisters who attended Wesleyan in the early years of the century.

Mural Room
At the back of the building is located the Mural Room, so named for the two large historical murals on display there. The Athos Menaboni canvases are two of a suite that originally hung in the lobby of a downtown Macon bank; they were donated to Wesleyan when the bank’s old building was demolished. The mural depicting Wesleyan shows the college’s original Greek Revival building as it originally looked, from the 1830s to the 1880s, before a Victorian facade and extensions were added (a painting hanging in the entry to the Candler Building shows the college in that era). This first building, later known as the “Conservatory,” was located atop a hill overlooking the city of Macon, now the site of the main Macon Post Office; it burned in 1963 after standing vacant for a decade, and was demolished.

Oval Hall
Upstairs, the former library reading room was transformed into a ballroom/banquet room now known as the Oval Hall. It has been the site of alumnae reunions and inaugural balls, concerts and luncheons. The Alumnae Association raised money to completely restore the hall, its ornate moldings, and its parquet floor to their original beauty in 1998. Heavy drapes were removed from the windows to allow full natural light. The large portrait between the columns on the back wall depicts Martha Beall Candler, the mother of Judge Candler; his father is represented in the bust in one of the side niches and his own likeness is represented in the other.

Just outside the small foyer, there's a plaque honoring Katharine Payne Carnes, Class of 1913, librarian of the college from 1919 to 1959. The college hosts an endowed lectureship in memory of Miss Carnes that in past years has brought to the college speakers such as authors Jane Smiley, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Virginia Hamilton; flutist Eugenia Zuckerman, journalist Deborah Norville, and NASA astronaut Bonnie Dunbar.