USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1955 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
The Children's Story Hour Room in the basement was completed this spring. The ceiling was painted white, the walls a light pink, and the floor black. With children's print curtains at the windows and colorful story-book pictures on the walls, we at last have a very inviting place for a gathering.
At the farther end of the basement the boiler-room doors were rehung to open outward. The magazine files were weed- ed and rearranged, and as a result, 63/4 tons of waste paper were sold.
Exhibits and Gifts
Our exhibit case held some unusual collections this year. Miss Mabel L. Potter loaned us silver made by the Incas, hand carved ivory heads, and a llama rug. Mrs. Hugh B. Darden, Jr., sent some of her collection of old candlesticks and candle
218
molds. One of Mrs. Eldred E. Besse's unique and colorful pictures created much interest. Children's story books describ- ing industries of Cape Cod, together with miniature figures to illustrate, were loaned by the Misses Ruth Sargent and Marion Wood. These provided the final exhibit of the year.
The library is always remembered with gifts of books, periodicals and, this year more than ever, flowers. For dona- tions of books we are grateful to Louis A. Baudoin, Ruth Chandler, John B. De Graw, Earl J. Dias, the Fairhaven High School, John Hayward, The Reverend Clifton G. Hoffman, Mrs. W. C. Huggard, John Keary, Mrs. Donat La Brie, A. P. Lewis, D. P. McDonald, the New England News Company, M. Pike, Plymouth Public Library, Alfred L. Poisson, Mrs. Flore Proven- cher, Mary Jean Schmidt, D. Austin Sistare, Mrs. Bancroft Win- sor, and Mrs. Earl B. York. Special thanks are due Mrs. Hugh B. Darden, Jr., for donating to us a sizeable portion of the library of her mother, the late Mrs. James H. C. Marston, for many years a Trustee of the Millicent Library.
Trustees
Mr. Harry L. Pope, who had been a member of the Board of Trustees for 43 years, was obliged to tender his resigna- tion in September because of his removal to California. It would be difficult to find an individual more sincerely inter- ested in serving the library and in public service in general. The Board was extremely sorry to lose Mr. Pope in view of his years of devoted and conscientious service, but was obliged to accept his resignation with regret.
Mr. Earl J. Dias, author, newspaper writer, and teacher of English at the Fairhaven High School, was chosen to replace Mr. Pope.
Staff
We were saddened by the loss of one of our most faithful staff members, Miss Mary A. Sale, who passed away in Septem- ber after an illness of a few months. Few indeed must be the residents of Fairhaven who did not know Miss Sale either as an elementary school principal and teacher or in her capacity as desk assistant at the Millicent Library. She was a familiar sight to all our borrowers at her accustomed place behind the charging desk. We cannot overestimate the efficient, loyal service which she offered to the Millicent Library since her ap-
219
pointment in 1946, and her passing has left a gap of which the staff is still keenly aware.
We were fortunate to have Mrs. William H. Rapp rejoin our staff as part-time worker at the circulation desk.
Conclusion
We reach the end of the year with the sense of having made considerable progress towards putting our house in order. We feel that we have accomplished something in the way of reor- ganizing our stock of books and, in addition, thanks to the gen- erosity of Mrs. Philip E. Young, we may look forward to providing better and more widespread service to the entire population of Fairhaven through the bookmobile which we shall now be able to add to our working equipment.
Respectfully submitted,
RITA E. STEELE,
Librarian.
220
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Report of the Treasurer for the year ended December 31, 1955
December 31, 1954, Balance on Hand
. ... $5,015.20
Receipts for 1955
Town of Fairhaven
$16,485.30
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
(Trust Fund)
2,500.00
Fairhaven Water Company
4,800.00
Fines
667.00
Duplicate Pay Books
56.05
Miscellaneous items
125.62
24,633.97
$29,649.17
Payments
Salaries - Library Staff
$14,378.14
Salary - Janitor
2,485.00
Social Security
312.30
Books
3,896.40
Periodicals
1,123.89
Book Binding
91.65
Library of Congress catalog cards
253.70
Telephone
207.13
Gas and Electricity
766.62
Fuel
342.00
Insurance
426.45
Water
18.00
Annual report
96.04
School bus
80.00
Library and Office Supplies
1,283.75
New Equipment
297.75
Repairs to Equipment
167.17
Building Maintenance and Repair
540.30
Building Alterations
124.50
Balance cash on hand December 31, 1955
$26,890.62 2,758.55
Investments
1,600 shares of Fairhaven Water Company
Endowment with Commonwealth of Mass. $100,000.00
New Bedford Five Cents Savings Bank 556.99
Philip E. Young Memorial Fund 5,000.00
Examined and approved :- January 12, 1956 EARL J. DIAS
R. McK. MITCHELL, Signed
(Signed) GEORGE A. GREENE,
Treasurer.
221
$29,649.17
STATISTICAL REPORT
THE MILLICENT LIBRARY, FAIRHAVEN, MASS.
American Library Association Form of Statistics Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 1955
Name of Library-The Millicent Library
Town-Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Librarian-Rita E. Steele
Date of Founding-1893
Population served (1955)
13,395
Assessed valuation of town (1954)
$14,621,930
Terms of use-Free for lending and reference.
Total number of agencies
..............
12
Consisting of-
Central Library
4 Stations (Oxford Branch, High School Library, King's Daughters Home, Our Lady's Haven)
7 Schools (118 classroom collections)
Volumes placed in classroom collections are counted in circulation on the day they are moved from the Central Library and no complete record of use at the school is kept.
Number of days open during year (Central Library)
303
Hours open each week for lending
63
Hours open each week for reading
63
Book Stock
Volumes at beginning of year
Adult 38,354
Juvenile 9,578
47,932
Volumes added by purchase
1,256
480
1,736
Volumes added by gift
189
12
201
Total volumes added
1,455
492
1,937
Volumes lost or withdrawn
2,643
171
2,814
Total volumes at end of year
37,156
9,899
47,055
Publications issued
Annual report, monthly list of books
Use
Adult
Juvenile
Total
Total volumes loaned
50,423
28,367
78,790
Circulation per capita
5.9
Circulation per registered borrower
23.2
Registration
Adult
Juvenile 472
Total
Borrowers registered during year
659
1,131
Total of registered borrowers
1,974
1,408
3,382
Per cent registered borrowers of population served
25.2%
Total
Periodicals currently received
147
222
BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 1955
Officers
President
Lord Fairhaven
Vice-President
Stuart M. Briggs
Treasurer
George A. Greene
Secretary
Rita E. Steele
Trustees
Henry Rogers Benjamin
Eldred E. Besse
Lord Fairhaven George A. Greene
Stuart M. Briggs
Mrs. Lothrop Hedge
Morris R. Brownell
Raymond McK. Mitchell
Elwyn G. Campbell
Mrs. Orrin G. Carpenter
Mrs. Hugh B. Darden, Jr.
*Harry L. Pope Miss Mabel L. Potter William Tallman Mrs. Alfred P. Wilbor
Chairman, Board of Selectmen
Standing Committees 1955 - 1956
Book Committee Lord Fairhaven, Chairman
Mrs. Carpenter Mr. Dias
Mrs. Hedge Mr. Pope
Miss Potter
Finance Committee
Mr. Green, Chairman Mr. Benjamin Mr. Briggs
Mr. Brownell Mr. Mitchell
Chairman, Board of Selectmen
House Committee
Mr. Besse, Chairman
Mr. Campbell Miss Potter
Mr. Tallman Mrs. Wilbor
Officers and Committees appointed biennially
* Resigned September, 1955
** Appointed November, 1955
223
Earl J. Dias
Former Trustees 1893 - 1955
Miss Ellen H. Akin 1893-1919
Edmund Anthony, Jr. 1902
Mrs. Sarah H. Anthony
1893-1912
Mr. Lyman C. Bauldry 1913-1939
William E. Benjamin 1893-1940
Edward L. Besse 1893-1947
Miss Sarah B. Clarke 1912-1933
Miss Edith Dana
1921-1951
Miss Georgia E. Fairfield 1920-1928
The Lady Fairhaven 1893-1939
William B. Gardner
1917-1941
James L. Gillingham
1893-1912
George B. Luther
1909-1951
Frederick B. Lyman
1904-1909
Mrs. James H. C. Marston
1943-1953
Charles Mitchell
1935-1954
Mrs. Lizzie F. Nye
1893-1919
Mrs. Eliza C. Pease
1919-1943
Henry H. Rogers
1893-1909
Henry H. Rogers, Jr.
1909-1935
Don C. Stevens
1893-1901
George W. Stevens 1893-1908
Mrs. H. H. Stillman
1919-1920
George H. Taber
1893-1901
George H. Tripp 1893-1943
Job C. Tripp 1902-1917
Thomas A. Tripp 1893-1953
Miss Anna B. Trowbridge 1929-1950
Charles W. White, Jr.
1902-1904
Walter P. Winsor
1893-1911
Mrs. Mary B. Winsor
1893-1921
224
LIBRARY STAFF
Rita E. Steele ........ Librarian
Avis M. Pillsbury Cataloger*
Lillian Schmidt Children's Librarian*
Ruth Barnes Secretary
Mona W. Staples Circulation Assistant
Alice Rapp Circulation Assistant*
Agnes F. Hewitt
Assistant in Charge of Periodicals and Binding Judith Hirschmann .......... Student Assistant
Albin S. Silva Oxford Branch Librarian
Arthur J. Boucher Building Custodian
Former Librarians, 1893 - 1953
Don C. Stevens ....... Feb. 1, 1893 - May
31, 1901
Drew B. Hall July 1, 1901 - May
31, 1911
Galen W. Hill June 1, 1911 - Jan. £ 31, 1926
Louis Felix Ranlett Feb. 1, 1926 - April 30, 1928
Avis M. Pillsbury
June 8, 1928 - Sept. 8, 1953
* Part-time
225
HOURS
MAIN LIBRARY Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Closed Sundays and Holidays
OXFORD BRANCH Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7 - 8 p.m.
226
Three of the Summer Reading Club winners: Carol Ann Hesketh, Susan Jackson, and Eileen Monteiro.
VA
Report of State Audit
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Department of Corporations and Taxation Bureau of Accounts State House, Boston 33
October 11, 1955
To the Board of Selectmen Mr. Walter Silveira, Chairman Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Gentlemen :
I submit herewith my report of an audit of the gen- eral accounts of the town of Fairhaven for the period from June 7, 1953, and of the accounts of the town collector for the period from April 13, 1954, to June 11, 1955, made in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 44, General Laws. This is in the form of a report made to me by Mr. William Schwartz, Assistant Director of Accounts.
Very truly yours, HERMAN B. DINE, Director of Accounts
Mr. Herman B. Dine Director of Accounts Department of Corporations and Taxation State House, Boston
Sir :
In accordance with your instructions, I have made an audit of the general accounts of the town of Fairhaven for the period from June 7, 1953, and of the accounts of the town collector for the period from April 13, 1954, the dates of the previous examination, to June 11, 1955, and submit the following report thereon :
229
The records of financial transactions of the several departments receiving or disbursing money for the town or committing bills for collection were examined and re- conciled with the books and records of the accounting officer.
The accounting officer's ledgers were analyzed, the re- corded receipts being checked with the treasurer's books and the payments being compared with the warrants au- thorizing them and with the treasurer's records of pay- ments. The appropriations and transfers were checked with the amounts voted by the town meetings as shown by the records of the town clerk and with the finance com- mittee's records of transfers from the reserve fund, and a balance sheet, which is appended to this report, was pre- pared showing the financial condition of the town on June 11, 1955.
The books and accounts of the town treasurer were examined and checked. The receipts, as recorded, were analyzed and checked with the records of the several de- partments collecting money for the town and with other sources from which money was paid into the town treasury, while the payments were compared with the selectmen's warrants authorizing the treasurer to disburse town funds. The cash balance on June 11, 1955 was verified by recon- ciliation of the bank balances with statements received from the banks of deposit and by actual count of the cash in the office.
The reported payments on account of maturing debt and interest were compared with the amounts falling due and with the cancelled securities on file.
The savings bank books and securities representing the investments of the trust, investment, and retirement funds in the custody of the town treasurer were examined and listed. The transfers to the town were verified, the income was proved, and the other reported transactions were found to be correct.
A statement of the transactions and condition of the Henry H. Rogers High School Fund was furnished by the City Bank Farmers Trust Company of New York, Trustees, and a schedule for this fund was prepared and is attached to this report.
The records of tax titles and tax possessions held by the town were examined. The additions to the tax title
230
account were checked with the collector's records, the re- ported redemptions and sales of lands of low value and of tax possessions were compared with the receipts as record- ed on the treasurer's cash book, the foreclosures were veri- fied, and the tax titles and tax possessions on hand were listed and reconciled with the accounting officer's ledger.
The books and accounts of the town collector were ex- amined and checked. The poll, personal property, and real estate taxes, the motor vehicle and trailer excise, and the departmental and water accounts outstanding according to the previous examination, together with all subsequent com- mitments, were audited and proved. The payments to the treasurer were checked with the treasurer's cash book, the recorded abatements were compared with the records of abatements granted, and the outstanding accounts were listed and reconciled with the respective controlling ac- counts in the accounting officer's ledger.
Verification of the correctness of the outstanding tax, excise, departmental, and water accounts was made by sending notices to a number of persons whose names ap- peared on the books as owing money to the town, the re- plies received thereto indicating that the accounts, as listed, are correct.
The town clerk's records of licenses and permits is- sued were examined and checked in detail, the recorded payments to the treasurer being verified by comparison with the treasurer's and the accounting officer's books. The records of dog and sporting licenses were also ex- amined, the payments to the State being verified by com- parison with the receipts on file and the payments to the town treasurer being checked with the treasurer's cash book.
The surety bonds furnished by the town officials for the faithful performance of their duties were examined and found to be in proper form.
The records of departmental collections by the select- men, the sealer of weights and measures, and the building inspector, as well as by the police, health, and school de- partments, and by all other departments in which money was collected for the town, were examined and checked. The payments to the town treasurer were verified, and the cash on hand in the several departments was proved by actual count.
231
There are appended to this report, in addition to the balance sheet, tables showing reconciliations of the treas- urer's and the collector's cash, summaries of the tax, excise, tax title, departmental, and water accounts, together with schedules showing the condition and transactions of the trust, investment, and retirement funds.
While engaged in making the audit cooperation was received from all officials of the town, for which, on behalf of my assistants and for myself, I wish to express apprecia- tion.
Respectfully submitted, WILLIAM SCHWARTZ, Assistant Director of Accounts
WS:BAB
232
Index
Assessors' Department 63
Building Inspector 90
Calendar of Board Meetings
7
Civil Defense 106
Election and Registration 68
Fire Alarm Superintendent 81
Fire Department 78
Health Department 82
Animal Inspector
84
Health Nursing Service 85
Highway Department
88
Information About the Town
5
Millicent Library 213
Officers of Federal, State and County Governments 13
93
Planning Board
76
Tribute - William Tallman
75
Police Department
98
Public Assistance
71
Retirement Board
92
School Department
109
School Committee Report
112
Superintendents Report
116
High School Principal
120
School Nurse 124
Expenditures, (Itemized)
137
Financial Statement 126
Selectmen's Message 14
Sewer and Water Commissioners 87
Shellfish Inspector 91
Park Department
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.