The Millicent Library

My mother-in-law passed away a couple of years ago from an insidious form of cancer. She was a pretty cool lady, mother-in-law stereotypes notwithstanding. She introduced her family to the wonders of a fabulous place called West Island in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, wandering there for a summer vacation and eventually building a tidy home with a lovely ocean view. (Of course, her husband and her son built it, but we quite fairly credit her with making it a home for several generations.)

She loved all things English - TV shows, dainty tea cups, the Queen, and English literature. It was her habit to take her car to town on a regular basis, looking for things to be discovered. By the time I met my husband, she knew every little spot worth knowing, and even those that had come and gone. In her quest for literature, she took all of us, at one time or another, to the Millicent Library in Fairhaven. It's one of the loveliest libraries I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

We spent a week on the Island recently, indulging in cherished time with family. Feeling reminiscent, my daughter and I ventured out to visit the library. She especially wanted to see if that amazing doll house was still there - the one she used to stare at for hours.

My daughter has always LOVED to read. Maybe my mother-in-law had something to do with that (Thank you, Marian). Maybe the Millicent Library had something to do with that. Maybe she just inherited the reading gene. Either way, it was bittersweet to go there again. I drew my first design sketches in this library, working up thumbnails for kids products. Picked up summer vacation reading here, browsing over the new releases. Was a newly married girl here, and a Mom here (enforcing the "QUIET" posters)! It's still so full of books. It's still as beautiful as ever.

As much as I've seen it before, I felt I had never seen it at all. Amazing arcs repeat everywhere you look (Richardsonian Romanesque style). There is beautiful mosaic tile work, narrow spiral staircases leading up to the stacks, marble floors, and that doll house. Yes, that doll house is still there. It made me sad in innumerable ways, surrounded by all those wonderful books, side-by-side with my daughter in that incredible, gorgeous building, my mother-in-law's passing and even greater, her legacy.

If you ever find yourself in Fairhaven, stop by the buildings credited to Henry Huttleston Rogers: The Millicent Library, The Fairhaven Town Hall, The Unitarian Memorial Church, The Tabitha Inn and The Fairhaven High School. Pure inspiration.