Samuel Read Hall Library

The Samuel Read Hall library is home to several pieces of art and sculpture. A replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace sculpture can be found in the reading area on the third floor. This nearly 8-foot (2.4 m) statue is a plaster copy of the original, which was discovered in 1863 on the Greek island of Samothrace. The original is believed to have been created between 300 and 100 B.C. to honor Nike, goddess of victory and messenger of Zeus and Athena. When originally recovered on Samothrace, the head and arms were not found with the other pieces of the statue , which was in fragments. The right hand was found in 1951 and later reunited with the rest of the original statue, but the copy owned by the library was crafted before the discovery of the hand. The statue is on permanent loan from the Cobleigh Library in Lyndonville, the home of Lyndon State College.^[9] Theodore Vail, then-president of AT&T and the historic owner of the land that Lyndon State College is on, donated the sculpture to Cobleigh in 1906 during the dedication of the library.^[10] The library staff at Cobleigh decided to loan the statue to the Samuel Read Hall library when their own space became insufficient for the sizable Nike. The original statue is on display in the Louvre^[11] in Paris.

Eight limited-edition etchings by Vermont artist Brian D. Cohen^[12] can be found in the 3rd floor reference area of the library. These etchings were done to illustrate the book Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural history of New England by Tom Wessels. The Art in State Buildings^[13] committee is responsible for the etchings’ location in the library, and also for several other works by Vermont artists. Guy Wachtel, an artist from South Newfane, Vermont, did a painting titled “Girl Reading” which was commissioned in 1997 by this committee. Mimi Love, a painter from Middlebury, also has two paintings on display, both of which are representations of local scenes.

Samuel Read Hall was born in Croydon, New Hampshire on October 27, 1795, and moved shortly thereafter to Guildhall, Vermont. He was educated at home and never attended college. Like his father before him, Hall studied for the ministry instead and was licensed to preach in 1823. He received an appointment to serve in Concord, Vermont, a frontier town of 800. He accepted the position in Concord with the stipulation that he be allowed to open a school for teachers, and on March 11, 1823, he formally established the Columbia School, the first teacher training school in the United States. By November, the school had outgrown its quarters and moved to a new building where the named was changed to the Concord Academy.^[14][15]

In 1829, Hall wrote the first instructional book on teaching, called “Lectures on School Keeping.”^[16] This book was so influential and popular that it went through ten printings, and was reissued in 1929 with a new biography of Hall and a bibliography of his works. He continued to teach teachers, and wrote several other textbooks for both teachers and students. He left Concord in 1830 and moved to Andover, Massachusetts, to become principal of Phillips Andover Academy's new teacher training program. In 1837, he moved to Plymouth, New Hampshire to serve at Holmes-Plymouth Academy and then later, in 1840, he finally moved back to the area of Vermont known as the Northeast Kingdom. He was influential in creating the teacher's training department at Craftsbury Academy, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont.

Hall's contributions to educational innovation were recognized in 1839 when he received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College and in 1865 when he received an honorary degree of LL.D., Doctorate of Law from the University of Vermont.^[17]