When an addition was built to the old Elm Street library in 1891, the architect Stephen C. Earle added two stone statues of great horned owls on the lintel over the arched doorway to the original structure. They remained there until they were moved to the interior of the Salem Square library that replaced the Elm Street building in 1964. In 1980, the Friends of Worcester Public Library held a contest to name the owls. The winning entry named them “Whooo” and “Whooom.” The statues are thirty-six inches high and charcoal in color and were crafted by sculptor Terrence Dunn.