The Palmer Memorial Room was built in the old Palmer Library to house the book collections given by George Palmer and his brother Elisha Loomis Palmer. The Palmer room was located on the top floor of what is now the Blaustein Center. It was a very handsome room that housed the Palmer book collections in locked glass fronted book cases. It was furnished originally with George Palmer's antique European furniture, which eventually was lent the Leffingwell Inn in Norwich, with the exception of four pieces that remain in the Library to this day.
For much of its history the Palmer Room was either kept locked or, after the furniture was moved out, used as a general reading room. There was no special collections librarian to administer the collections. When the new library was built in 1976, it included a Palmer Memorial Room on the second floor in a conscious effort to replicate the old Palmer Room with parquet floors, new wood paneling, and glass-enclosed wooden book cases to house the Palmer Memorial Collection. The glass was later replaced with an iron grate to promote air circulation while still protecting the collection. The most attractive features of the Palmer Room were preserved and refurbished when the Lear Center was built in 2008.
The Palmer Room is now equipped with a seminar table, and drop-down projector and screen, allowing it to function as a traditional reading room, collaborative work space, or multimedia classroom.