Helen Potter
BATV Board of Directors: 2024 Member Nominee
A lifelong Billerica resident, Helen (Lee) Potter has dedicated her time and efforts to numerous cultural arts projects throughout the town.
Since the beginning of her career as an art educator, Helen’s primary concern has always been Billerica’s youth. With them in mind,
as the 1970s were dawning, her primary concern for the children was that the library gifted by Eleanor Bennett in 1880 was too small
for such a burgeoning community.
The 30-year Billerica Public Schools teacher asked her father-in-law, Stuart Potter Sr., a town selectman, “Why haven’t the selectmen
built a larger town library?” He stated, “In a democracy, YOU are responsible for things that need to be done.” So, for the next decade,
summoning the help of U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas, Billerica Selectman Thomas Conway, and her father-in-law, to name just a few:
This first town-owned library opened in 1980, serving the town for 20 years before transitioning into the Billerica Senior Center. At the time,
the selectmen were asked to name the new library after her father-in-law, Stuart Potter Sr. However, Helen objected, believing the
town’s first official public library should be simply named the Billerica Public Library.
BATV Board of Directors: 2024 Member Nominee
A lifelong Billerica resident, Helen (Lee) Potter has dedicated her time and efforts to numerous cultural arts projects throughout the town.
Since the beginning of her career as an art educator, Helen’s primary concern has always been Billerica’s youth. With them in mind,
as the 1970s were dawning, her primary concern for the children was that the library gifted by Eleanor Bennett in 1880 was too small
for such a burgeoning community.
The 30-year Billerica Public Schools teacher asked her father-in-law, Stuart Potter Sr., a town selectman, “Why haven’t the selectmen
built a larger town library?” He stated, “In a democracy, YOU are responsible for things that need to be done.” So, for the next decade,
summoning the help of U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas, Billerica Selectman Thomas Conway, and her father-in-law, to name just a few:
- Helen led a building committee that successfully secured the $1.1 million in funding so that a new public library could be
constructed at no cost to the town. She even assisted in the design of the building. - Her committee raised $143,000 in funds through generous donations from local businesses and citizens to furnish the new library.
- She also arranged for another significant donator, fire department Capt. Paul Hayes, to provide all the landscaping for the library at no cost.
- A committee of devoted citizens helped Helen to organize a unique 300-person human chain to transfer 38,000 volumes of
books, records, videotapes, and historical material from the Bennett building to the new library.
This first town-owned library opened in 1980, serving the town for 20 years before transitioning into the Billerica Senior Center. At the time,
the selectmen were asked to name the new library after her father-in-law, Stuart Potter Sr. However, Helen objected, believing the
town’s first official public library should be simply named the Billerica Public Library.
