The Letters Are Back! Reading Library Letters are Shining.

September 14, 2017
Reading, Vt.

The letters are back! What letters you ask? Some very beautiful and historic letters. Libraries are filled with books and stories where letters describe what the author wants to say. In this case, the story is about the letters that describe a library. The library is The Gilbert A. Davis Library Building, a mouthful yes, so most people just say Reading Public Library or Reading Library.

The story starts in early spring of 2015 when much of the lettering above the library’s doorway was inadvertently painted. Library trustees and librarian Tony Pikramenos then heard that the letters might have originally been covered in gold leaf. "There was anecdotal evidence in the community that the lettering was gold leaf" said Milde Waterfall, a library trustee. Waterfall used to do research at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and was very interested in preserving this piece of Reading and Vermont history if the stories were true.

Before taking on the expense of the restoration process Pikramenos and the library trustees wanted to confirm that the letters were in fact gold leaf (not gold paint). A few flecks off one of the letters was brought to N.T. Ferro in Woodstock in 2015 and the confirmation was made.

Gary Macia, a local contractor, was commissioned to carefully take down all the letters while the trustees tried to locate a company would be able to restore the gold leaf. It was quickly discovered that about half of the letters had one or more pre-existing cracks or breaks, along with flaking gold-leaf. After reviewing several bids, the contract was awarded to Wanamaker Restoration of Burlington, Vermont. "These guys had just done the Ticonderoga letters (at the Shelburne Museum) so they had recent experience" said Waterfall. All of the letters were delivered to Wanamaker Restoration and the process began.

Wanamaker joked with his colleague and the lead painter at the Shelburne Museum Justin Mayo on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017 "How long did it take you to finish this project? About 15 minutes right?" The "project" involved: removing layers of lead paint, "surgically" removing 15-20 nails from each letter-that took the most time, repairing some letters, and the removal of tape and epoxy that had accumulated over the years. Each letter received two coats of primer followed by gold leaf gilding size. The letters sat 16 hours after the size application before the gold leaf was applied. Mayo worked on the letters in the mornings and afternoons in between his job at the Shelburne Museum. "I want to say the whole project took about 60 hours to complete" Mayo estimated, "there were a lot of letters."

The restoration cost about $4000, half of which was funded by Andrew and Christine Hall, library patrons. The remaining funds came from library savings which were generated by book sales and fundraisers, no taxpayer money was used for the project.


Gilbert Davis, a local attorney in Felchville Village, paid for the library's construction and in 1899 the Gilbert A. Davis library building was dedicated. The first librarian in the new library building was Minnie Fay. She was librarian there for 40 years, from 1899 to 1939. In addition, for 50 years she wrote the Felchville column for the Vermont Standard newspaper.

"A library is a repository of information about the world-fiction, non-fiction and the library itself has a story to tell" said Waterfall. "It's very important to us as a board and librarian to maintain the architectural and aesthetic integrity of the building, it's always a priority...we want to make sure that that story continues to be told for generations, we don't want it compromised" said Pikramenos.

More photos from the installation: CLICK HERE

Blog Archive

Show more