Join Erin McKay and Sawyer Free Library for Storytime Yoga – free yoga for children exploring stories, movement and fun this Tuesday, May 2 at 10:45 a.m. at Treetop Yoga!
Hosted by Sawyer Free Library, the free program will be held at Treetop Yoga Studio, 3A Pond Road. Yoga for children 5 and under and their caregivers.
Register at sawyerfreelibrary.org. Questions? Contact: jvitale@sawyerfreelibrary.org
Join us on Tuesday, May 2 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. at Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street and learn the warning signs of a stroke and how to help prevent one from occurring by knowing the risk factors. The presenter is Chris S. Burke, MD who is a Neurologist and the Stroke Medical Director at Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals. Register at SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
The Sawyer Free Library’s Board of Trustees is proud to announce that the renovated and expanded Library, set to open in 2025, will be the first public building on Cape Ann that generates renewable energy from solar and uses no fossil fuels for the building’s site energy. The 2025 Sawyer Free Library will serve as a leading example for the City of Gloucester and the Commonwealth in designing and operating a building for efficient consumption and generation of energy and water.
“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library makes Gloucester a leader in sustainable and renewable energy efforts. It is the first public building on Cape Ann serviced by an all-electric heat pump system powered by onsite renewable energy and puts Gloucester in the top 1% of public libraries across the Commonwealth,” stated the City of Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga. “This new library will be a major resource for our community for generations to come and set the standard for our future.”
“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is an important demonstration in how to be responsible stewards of our environment and reduce our footprint on the planet,” said Mern Sibley, President of the Sawyer Free Library’s Board of Trustees. “By converting an inefficient fossil fuel powered building into a class-leading sustainable facility, we have an example and an inspiration for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in our City.”
The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is designed to create a better and healthier City of Gloucester. As a LEED Gold building with enhanced sustainability features, the 2025 Sawyer Free Library is a leading example of actions that can be taken in the designing and operating of a building to protect climate and nature based on design principles that put people first, including sustainability, accessibility, health, and safety.
The project integrates three distinct structures with complete renovations of the Library’s existing 1976 and 1913 buildings and an expansion of the footprint with a new 14,000 sq. ft. addition towards School Street. Common building systems will serve the renovation and addition with advanced sustainability features and enhanced commissioning designed for efficient consumption, generation, and storage of energy and water that will result in environmental benefits for decades to come.
The 2025 Sawyer Free Library features state-of-the-art energy-efficient technologies, including all-electric HVAC systems powered by renewable energy, solar power panels, LED light fixtures, and high-efficiency smart lighting controls. The Library’s sustainability commitments are to reduce energy use intensity (EUI) from 85 to 30 or below, use as much renewable energy as possible, generate a minimum of 30kW solar energy onsite and perform enhanced commissioning to achieve targets post-occupancy.
The buildings will also feature efficient water use fixtures and a rainwater collection and irrigation system to maintain the Library’s native landscaping. These systems will help the Library reach its target of a minimum 30% decrease in overall water usage.
Aiming to reduce single-occupancy vehicle traffic in the city, the 2025 Sawyer Free Library will serve as a bike and E-bike hub for safe and sustainable transportation. It will also offer public Electric Vehicle Level 2 charging stations in the parking lot to be available 24 hours, 7 days a week, to support decarbonization efforts locally and across the Commonwealth.
“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library presents a holistic approach to sustainability. The combination of the building’s sustainability features, its green operations and educational programming, along with its capacity as a physical and social climate response center, present a powerful demonstration of how we can mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Jenny Benedict, Library Director. “Every action we take individually and collectively toward making our environment resilient and sustainable is a step toward a net zero impact future. Together, we can preserve the one planet we have to live on for ourselves and future generations.”
To support the innovative sustainability infrastructure, and systems, the Library’s Green Building Operations Policy will be another vital part of the Library’s commitment to ongoing environmentally sustainable practices. Implementing a wide range of “green” practices will save energy, conserve water, reduce waste, and support healthy work and public spaces.
“Both the building and the Library’s associated educational programming are a model and an inspiration for the entire community and beyond of how we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” stated Sawyer Free Library Capital Projects Chair Simon Paddock.
Sawyer Free Library’s mission is to be a place of learning, innovation and creativity, to nurture and strengthen the community. Programs at the 2025 Sawyer Free Library will help to foster a climate-literate community through online dashboard displays, demonstrations, and programs for adults and children focused on sustainable research, practices, and hands-on interactive experiences. These will range from lectures and field trips about the values of our local land and ocean ecosystem to workshops on how to change our impact on our environment.
The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is designed to make resource conservation part of the everyday experience while inspiring and educating the community about the importance of environmental stewardship and beauty. The building will exemplify what a 21st-century public library can and should be in terms of sustainability and also architecture, accessibility, use of natural resources and light, wayfinding, lines of sight, air quality, and public safety. It will boast new community spaces, including a 110-seat community room with state-of-the-art science presentation technology, a dedicated room for teens, and a digital maker space with a film production suite and a sound recording studio. Additional features will include a Library History Center, a quiet Reading Room, and a 16-seat Conference Room. The 2025 Sawyer Free Library will be an educational, cultural, civic, and community hub for learning, collaboration, and innovation. With its modern and sustainable design, the Library will provide an inspiring and sustainable environment for library patrons, staff, the community, and beyond.
The Sawyer Free Library Board is planning the groundbreaking for the 2025 Sawyer Free Library this September, with construction expected to take approximately eighteen months. The Library is currently operating in its temporary location at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.
For those interested in learning more about how the 2025 Sawyer Free Library is building a sustainable future or ways to support these efforts, visit www.sawyerfreelibrary.org/sustainability.
The Sawyer Free Library invites you to a riveting hour online with New York Times bestselling author William Kent Krueger! Join us on Thursday, April 27 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. as he discusses his newest book in the Cork O’Connor series Fox Creek and his other works.
This is a virtual event. Registration is required. Click HERE to register.
Fox Creek follows Cork O’Connor in a race against time to save his wife, a mysterious stranger, and an Ojibwe healer from bloodthirsty mercenaries. The ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux has had a vision of his death. As he walks the Northwoods in solitude, he tries to prepare himself peacefully for the end of his long life. But peace is destined to elude him as hunters fill the woods seeking a woman named Dolores Morriseau, a stranger who had come to the healer for shelter and the gift of his wisdom. Meloux guides this stranger and his great niece, Cork O’Connor’s wife, to safety deep into the Boundary Waters, his home for more than a century. Meanwhile, in Aurora, Cork works feverishly to identify the hunters and the reason for their relentless pursuit, but he has little to go on. He knows only too well that with each passing hour time is running out. But his fiercest enemy in this deadly game of cat and mouse may well be his own deep self-doubt about his ability to save those he loves.
About the Author: Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize.
Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019 and spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list. His last nine novels were all New York Times bestsellers. He’s been married for nearly fifty years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.
This is a virtual event. Registration is required. Click HERE to register.
Questions? Contact: moneill@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5562.
Join the Sawyer Free Library in celebrating Earth Day with Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus! Together we will be planting, gardening, and learning about ways to protect the environment on Saturday, April 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
This interactive event will be held at 70 Middle Street, Trinity Church, which is located right behind the main library.
No registration is needed. Fun for families of children ages 3 and up.
Questions? Contact: crosso@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-515-6349.
Starting this week, on Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 11:30 am, the Sawer Free Library will be hosting Open Play at SFL@21MainStreet.
This unstructured open play for little ones and caregivers is an opportunity for social interaction and a nurturing way to introduce the very young to the library. Books and toys will be provided for caregivers to interact with their little ones and are best suited for ages 0-2. No registration needed.
Questions? Contact: jvitale@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5505.
Come and join us at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester for some springtime literary fun on Thursday, April 20th.
From 5:15 – 6:15 p.m. local harpist Moira Kelly will be sharing festive musical entertainment while refreshments are provided.
Then at 6:15 p.m. local Irish author Robert T. McMaster will be introducing his latest novel, Rose of Glenkerry: A County Wicklow Mystery via Zoom, the virtual presentation will be broadcasted at SFL@ 21 Main Street location for all to enjoy.
Though registration is not required, the first three to fill out a registration form HERE will receive a free copy of the book! 
Questions? Visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
The Sawyer Free Library’s Romance Book Club 💖 will meet on Thursday, April 27 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss this month’s selection Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. Click HERE to register or visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org
Copies of the book are available now at the Library.
The group will meet at the Sawyer Free Library located at 21 Main Street, Gloucester.
YGSC: Solar System Explorers – The Young Gloucester Scientists Club is hosting a live virtual interactive journey through our Solar System with experts from Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University. This program is suitable for 4th-8th graders. Registration is required to receive the link. This program is virtual, should a device be needed reach out to Teen Librarian Marisa.
Astronomy Take & Make Universe in a Jar – a take home kit for tweens and teens with hands on astronomy activities. For students in grades 4-8. Registration is required for each child individually. Pick up begins Tues, and continues through Friday.
YSGC Field Trip: Star-Gazing at Halibut Point State Park – SFL’s Young Gloucester Scientist Club is hosting an evening of night-sky observations with the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club. Students, grades 4th through 8th, and their families, will use telescopes, chat with experts and do some hand-on astronomy activities at this late-night Field Trip to Halibut Point State Park located at 4 Gott Ave, Rockport, MA. Registration is required.
Questions? Contact Teen Librarian Marisa Hall at mhall@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5549.
Cape Ann Community 