Author: Sawyer Free Library

SAWYER FREE LIBRARY RECEIVES SUPPLEMENTAL STATE GRANT FOR HISTORIC LIBRARY RENOVATION AND EXPANSIONS

~ Sawyer Free Library

Library grateful to local elected officials for helping to secure critical funding and commitment to 2025 Sawyer Free

The Sawyer Free Library is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), in collaboration with the Executive Office of Administration and Finance of the State of Massachusetts (A&F), has devised a comprehensive plan to address the escalating costs for current public library construction projects within the confines of its regulations and annual cap. As part of this plan, the MBLC has approved a maximum one-time additional grant payment of up to $999,963 to the Sawyer Free Library to mitigate the impact of cost escalation for its renovation and expansion project. These funds supplement the just over $9 million construction grant awarded by the MBLC Construction Grant program to Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library for its comprehensive renovation, modernization, and expansion. 

“The Sawyer Free Library would like to extend its deep appreciation to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance for recognizing the importance of our historic renovation and expansion project and taking proactive measures to assist us in overcoming the financial challenges associated with cost escalation,” said Mern Sibley, President of the Sawyer Free Library’s Board of Trustees. “We are also especially grateful to our local elected officials including Senator Bruce Tarr, Representative Ann Margaret Ferrante, and Mayor Greg Verga, for advocating on our behalf, leading us to secure this funding and their unwavering support and commitment to our public library. This additional grant payment brings the City of Gloucester closer to realizing its vision of the 21st-century Library it so needs and deserves.”   

The supplemental funding of $999,963 from the MBLC will tremendously help offset the negative impact of pandemic-fueled cost escalation. In fall 2022, the appropriation for the 2025 Sawyer Free Library project was set at a total cost of $29M, including fixtures, furnishings and equipment. Current cost estimates remain on track to be under budget. 

This extraordinary additional one-time grant payment is a crucial boost to the Sawyer Free Library’s fundraising efforts to modernize and expand Gloucester’s Public Library. The Library is obligated to raise the total amount for Gloucester’s revitalized and reimagined Library. Public support for the 2025 Sawyer Free Library continues to be great and grow, evident in the funds it has raised to date. The Sawyer Free 2025 fundraising campaign, now with this grant, has over $17.5 million in committed funds, with more each day. 

The Library is grateful for the tremendous engagement and investment at every level from all parts of the community. While the campaign is now over half way to its goal, the Library project still need everyone’s support. For those interested in learning more or for ways to donate to this historic project, visit www.sawyerfree2025.org

When doors open at the 2025 Sawyer Free Library, the building will exemplify what a 21st-century public library can and should be in terms of architecture, sustainability, accessibility, use of natural resources and light, wayfinding, lines of sight, air quality, and public safety. The 2025 Sawyer Free Library project will preserve the original exterior, housing an entirely redesigned interior, and will also double the size of the existing Library’s footprint with a 14,000-square-foot addition. 

The Library will be designed for collaboration, creativity, and life-long learning featuring a digital makerspace, audio, and video recording studios, a 100-seat community room with state-of-the-science media presentation assets, a climate-controlled center for Gloucester history, a dedicated teen room, a beautiful expanded children’s room, study rooms for individual and group study, a 16-seat conference room, and much more. 

The Sawyer Free Library Board will officially break ground on the 2025 Sawyer Free Library this Fall. The project will take approximately eighteen months. The Library is currently operating at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.  For more information on the Sawyer Free Library’s services and summer programming, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Rending of the 2025 Sawyer Free Library Dale Street Entrance

Storytime Yoga at Treetop Yoga: THIS TUESDAY!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Namaste! Enjoy yoga with your little ones at Treetop Yoga!

Join Erin McKay and Sawyer Free Library for Storytime Yoga – FREE yoga for children exploring stories, movement and fun this Tuesday, June 6 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

Hayley Reardon kicks off Sawyer Free Folk Showcase on Thursday, June 1!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Critically acclaimed local singer songwriter Hayley Reardon to perform at SFL @ 21 Main Street on Thursday evening!

Sawyer Free Library is excited to announce its Sawyer Free Folk Showcase this summer, a series spotlighting local singer-songwriters. The showcase will be held on the first Thursday of the summer months at its 21 Main Street location in downtown Gloucester. The first one is this upcoming Thursday, June 1, with Gloucester-based singer-songwriter Hayley Reardon from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

Hayley will perform a 45-minute set of her music followed by a brief discussion about her approach to songwriting and lyrical composition. The evening is free and open to all to come and enjoy.  No registration is required.

Hayley Reardon is a critically acclaimed folk-pop artist and a storyteller in the truest sense of the word. Her songs are postcards from an artist brave enough to take the road less traveled. Raised in Massachusetts, Reardon dove headfirst into music at 15 and honed her craft for over a decade, sharing the stage with acts like Lori McKenna, Rodney Crowell, and Anaïs Mitchell, among others. Her raw artistry boasts a lyrical and melodic weight far beyond her years. Her music has been described as “brilliantly moving folk/pop with a lyrical depth and soul” (Performer Magazine) and “a melancholy little masterpiece” (American Songwriter Magazine). She recently made a splash with her single, “Losing From Within,” grabbing the attention of Spotify Editorial Playlists like Fresh Folk, Folk Pop, Morning Coffee, and Today’s Singer/Songwriters. Her latest EP, In The Good Light, was recorded in Barcelona with Catalan collaborator Pau Figueres (one of Spain’s finest guitarists). Having recently made her home here in Gloucester, Hayley wowed audiences at the 2023 Singer/Songwriter Challenge at Machaca, winning first prize and making a memorable impression on the Cape Ann music scene.

The Sawyer Free Library is honored to have her perform for its first Sawyer Free Folk Showcase series. 

For more information, visit the calendar at sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5571. 

Sawyer Free Library wants to hear from YOU! Virtual Public Meeting on Friday, June 2nd!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Gloucester’s Public Library seeks the community’s input for its strategic plan: Our Library. Our Future.

The Sawyer Free Library is eager to engage the community and gather valuable input for its 2025-2029 Strategic Plan.

Community Conversations will be held in over Zoom on Friday, June 2, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, June 13, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Click HERE for meeting zoom links! Or go to the calendar on SawyerFreeLibrary.org

Community Conversation In Person on Monday, June 5 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library’s temporary space at 21 Main Street.

Gloucester Conversations will moderate these public forums, which are open to everyone to attend, and share their thoughts, ideas, and insights about how the 2025 Sawyer Free Library can best serve them and the greater community. 

All Gloucester residents and visitors are also encouraged to fill out the Sawyer Free Library’s Community Input Survey. Regardless of how much or how little individuals use its services, everyone’s perspectives are welcome and encouraged.

The online survey is available online at www.SawyerFreeLibrary.org and will be open through July 1, 2023. 

The Sawyer Free Library expects to analyze the results this summer and compile a summary report, which will be shared with the community when the Library Board of Trustees finalizes the new 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. 

Community members can visit sawyerfreelibrary.org for more information and updates on ways to participate in the strategic planning process. The Library will also provide regular updates to keep community members informed and engaged throughout the process.

Sawyer Free Library Wants To Hear from YOU!

~ Sawyer Free Library

The SAWYER FREE LIBRARY is excited to be kicking off the community consultation for its new STRATEGIC PLAN: OUR LIBRARY. OUR FUTURE.

As part of the planning process, Sawyer Free Library wants to hear from the community and gather its valuable input. The 2025-2029 strategic planning process is especially important due to new opportunities that will be possible with the opening of the renovated, modernized and expanded 2025 Sawyer Free Library.

The Library will be hosting a series of 4 PUBLIC COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS, and an ONLINE SURVEY and wants to hear from YOU! The Library encourages individuals from all backgrounds and age groups, community organizations, local businesses, and other stakeholders, to participate and provide their unique perspectives. 

Community Conversations will be held IN PERSON on:

  • Monday, May 22, at Cape Ann YMCA from 6:00 -7:30 p.m.
  • Monday, June 5, at the Sawyer Free Library’s temporary space at 21 Main Street from 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Community Conversations take place VIRTUALLY over Zoom:

  • Friday, June 2, from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, June 13, from 10-11:30 a.m.

Gloucester Conversations will moderate these public forums, which are open to everyone to attend, and share their thoughts, ideas, and insights about how the 2025 Sawyer Free Library can best serve them and the greater community.

All Gloucester residents and visitors are also encouraged to fill out the Sawyer Free Library‘s new COMMUNITY SURVEY. The online survey is available online at SawyerFreeLibrary.org and will be open through July 1, 2023. 

Regardless of how much or how little individuals use its services, everyone’s perspectives are welcome and encouraged to participate! This survey is the first piece of research that will help to inform the new strategic plan and will be critical in influencing the Library’s priorities for the next five years.

The Sawyer Free Library expects to analyze the results this summer and compile a summary report, which will be shared with the community when the Library Board of Trustees finalizes the new 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. The Library’s most recent five-year strategic plan was completed in 2020, which runs through 2024. 

Community members can visit sawyerfreelibrary.org for more information and updates on ways to participate in the strategic planning process. The Library will also provide regular updates to keep community members informed and engaged throughout the process.

Memoir Talk: Author Talk with Virginia McKinnon on Thursday evening, May 18

~ Sawyer Free Library

As a part of May’s Local Memoir Series, the Sawyer Free Library is pleased to present Virginia McKinnon as she reads from her newly released memoir, A Fisherman’s Daughter: Growing Up Sicilian-American in the Oldest Fishing Port in America. All are invited to this special evening on Thursday, May 18, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.

At age 93, this first-time author shares short stories of her heritage growing up in Gloucester, spanning her lifetime, including her late husband’s WWII experiences in the Asiatic Pacific. Drawing on her vivid memories from throughout her life as a child when she could hop fishing boat to fishing boat during St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester Harbor to the joyful celebrations of marriage and family life, to her community and public life work as a social worker, eucharistic minister, lector, and writer, Virginia’s book documents a cultural history of a way of life in Gloucester and America.

The event is free and open to the public at Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street, Gloucester. For more information and to register, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Young Gloucester Scientist Club: Vernal Pond Field Trip – Friday, May 19

~ Sawyer Free Library

For May’s Young Gloucester Scientists Club field trip, they have teamed up with Rick Roth and the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team to learn about the link woodland creatures, such as salamanders and frogs, have to ponds in Gloucester.  Suitable for 4th-8th graders.

Join in on the fun on Friday afternoon, May 19 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. `Location details will be sent after registering.

The event is free but you need to register at SawyerFreeLibrary.org.

Learn Baby Sign Language at Sawyer Free Library on May 15

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library is pleased to offer Baby Sign Language with Baby Keands on Monday, May 15 from 10:20 – 12 noon at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.

Learn about the benefits of signing with babies from Sheryl White of Baby Kneads. During this free class, caregivers will learn how to teach American Sign Language to their little ones, practice several signs and more.

This event will be held at Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street. Register at sawyerfreelibrary.org. Questions? Contact: jvitale@sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Memoir Series: Author Talk with STELLA NAHATIS 

~ Sawyer Free Library

As a part of May’s Memoir Month, the Sawyer Free Library is pleased to welcome local author Stella Nahatis on Thursday, May 11 at 5:30 to discuss her newly released memoir, Taxi to America: A Greek Orphan’s Adoption Journey. All are welcome to attend this special event at the Library located at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.   To register click HERE or for more information, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Stella’s journey from Thessaloniki, Greece, to America begins with a pre-dawn taxi ride that she and her sister share while the coffin holding a loved one rides along in the taxi’s trunk. Orphaned and separated from her younger sister “for her own good” as the culture dictated at the time, Stella ends up being adopted by a Greek couple that had emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. At age 11, she overcomes multiple losses and cultural differences to find a place in her new homeland while finding ways to stay connected to those she loved in Greece.

This story of resilience and perseverance follows Stella’s journey of becoming an “Amerikanaki” and eventually reconnecting with her sister, who had stayed in Greece with her own set of adoptive parents. Even as Stella embraces her new life and culture in America, she rebuilds her loving relationship with her sister after an eight-year separation. Later in life, the sisters take another taxi ride together, this time to recover important details of their birth parents’ life stories that mirror the determination to survive and thrive that marks their own.

To register, or for more information, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.