When you have enough to buy the very best

Library Administrator's Digest, Sep 2002 by Robinson, Charles W

When I was in Atlanta at ALA early this summer, I just happened in the exhibit area on the display of Thos. Moser Libraries. I had heard of Thomas Moser and read of him in various New England magazines like Down East, but I didn't know the firm made furniture for libraries. I thought the company made very upscale furniture for the home in wood, generally using cherry.

Well, I talked to the Moser representative there in Atlanta, and yes, it is the same outfit that makes home furniture, but it has a library line too - and that's obviously why it was exhibiting. I asked, "But isn't your furniture pretty high-priced?" "Yes," he said, "probably more expensive than anything else exhibited here, but it's better, too."

It's my experience that architects go crazy over wood furniture, especially stuff that they have designed themselves (for an extra fee, please), and that what they like is invariably something swanky, like cherry, and really costly. But it's amazing how many libraries buy wood furniture of the highest quality.

I remarked to the Moser rep that I summered in Maine and wasn't his furniture made there? "Yes," he said, "and you can tour the factory on Friday afternoons."

About a month later, I called the Moser factory for a tour appointment on a Friday, and my wife and I drove up the Maine Turnpike for about an hour to Auburn.

The plant is in a building in a newish office park, and there were a bunch of motorcycles in the parking lot. The receptionist said a group of employees had just taken their bikes on a trip to New Hampshire and back.

We were the only ones on the factory tour, and were guided by Rick Belisle until we got to the finishing department, when Rick Guite took over. There were very few people in the plant: all the employees are let off at 1 p.m. on Friday, except those who want to build something in the plant for themselves. This was fortunate, what with all the power saws, planers and whatnot in the place. It must be pretty noisy at full blast.

We started with the incoming cherry planks, completely unfinished, from northern Pennsylvania, progressed through gluing, laminating and assembly to design and finishing. The finish is linseed oil and wax they were using "bowling alley" wax, which they showed us. This was particularly interesting to me since my cherry dining table looks bad after 40 years and I think III take the lacquer finish off and redo it.

In the finishing department were a number of library tables, part of an order for the new library at the University of Georgia. As they finish them they send them to an air-conditioned warehouse in Massachusetts until scheduled delivery in June 2003. The tables were beautiful, not quite standard Moser, since the architect wanted slight changes. Wouldn't you know?

This stuff may well be the very best in design, material and workmanship, but it ain't cheap. You want their signature "Continuous Arm Chair" of cherry and ash? That'll be $995 plus $95 shipping plus tax in some states. About a month after my visit I visited a fancy law office in Portland where the conference room was full of Moser furniture. I turned it over and it was marked "Contract," so I guess they'll have quantity prices.

The University of Georgia job is funded by a bond issue or a big fat gift, I'll bet. This is not the kind of stuff taxpayers love as much as architects do. Or lawyers, I guess.

If you want to impress your architect, call the Corporate Sales Department at 800-70- 9710 and who knows, they may send you their fancy catalog. Maybe you have a wealthy donor in the wings somewhere?