When Billings Library was converted to the campus student center, furniture, including pieces designed for the library by architect H. H. Richardson’s firm, was moved to other locations and to storage. The Fleming Museum took custody of a very large oak librarian’s desk that originally sat in the book room (now the North Lounge).

This month, thanks to careful planning on the part of Fleming Museum staff, UVM Libraries facilities manager Matt Hughes, and a local moving company, the desk returned to Billings. A moving crew carried it down the stairs into the Fleming Museum’s Marble courtyard. Staff opened the museum’s original front door facing Colchester Avenue, and the movers put the desk in the back of a truck waiting on the lawn.

At the front door of Billings, the movers guided the desk up the stairs and into Ader Hall. For the time being, the desk will sit against a wall, exposing the panels that match the impressive woodwork throughout the third and fourth levels of the building.

Come visit Billings to see the desk, study in the North Lounge, or view the exhibit in the Apse, “Billings Library, A Building for All Time.” The building is open Monday-Thursday from 10 am – 6 pm and Friday 10 am – 5 pm.