In 1873 the Art Gallery was added. Critics saw the painting's removal from the New York area to St. Johnsbury as a profound loss to civilized culture. The permanent collection of paintings number one hundred and the library includes approximately 45,000 volumes. The library also has magazines, newspapers, records, video and audiotapes, reproductions of famous paintings and original works by local artists which can be borrowed for hanging in homes, a complete collection of the local newspaper, pamphlets and paperbacks. The library is run by an independent private corporation, but receives an annual appropriation from the Town and in effect serves as the public library for St. Johnsbury.
Library cards are available to residents of other towns.
Lambert Packard in the massive, horizontal and rough-textured style of Richardson Romanesque designed the building. In addition to designing industrial buildings for Fairbanks, he also designed six public buildings, two theaters, five schools, three churches and seventeen residences. Franklin Fairbanks founded the museum to house his collections of rocks, shells, fossils, birds, animals and artifacts from around the world and to put them to active service in the educational life of his community. The museum has the largest display of mounted birds and mammals in northern New England and collections and exhibits related to the history of St. Johnsbury. The museum also houses the Northern New England Weather Center, a Planetarium and offers educational services to over 25,000 children annually.