Thanks to the community’s incredible generosity, the Sawyer Free Library not only reached, but greatly exceeded its 2020 year-end fundraising goal!
This year the Library was thrilled to welcome many new contributors and grateful that several returning donors increased their giving. No matter the amount, your support means so much, especially during a year that has been challenging for all.
YOU, the community is at the core of our work. With your help the Sawyer Free Library has met this uncertain moment with certainty, expanding digital services, helping readers of print books to embrace e-books, giving parents resources to support at-home learning, connecting job-seekers with local networking opportunities, bringing world-renowned speakers into homes and so much more.
Thank YOU for making it possible!
Your support of the Sawyer Free Library empowers individuals, strengthens families, and makes our great community a better place to live, for which we are deeply grateful.
This Saturday, January 23 the Sawyer Free Library’s GLOUCESTER LYCEUM will kick off a new monthly virtual series “Exercises for the Quiet Eye”presented by art historian and museum educator, Annie Storr. This interactive, creative program is designed to open the moment when someone can fully see the art in front of them. It aims to suspend attention, to quiet the drive to “figure out” and “move on.”
Storr developed “Exercises for the Quiet Eye” to encourage patient reflection, appreciation, and an attempt to avoid the rush to understand, or determine a set interpretation for what we see. It guides participants to use art to embrace ambiguity, intellectual exploration, and personal reflection.
This special virtual program will take place from 2-4pm on Saturdays: January 23, February 27, March 27, April 24 and May 22
Please be sure to register to join and receive the Zoom link.
Before we turn the page on 2020 (not a second too soon), please consider giving to the Sawyer Free Library Annual Fund!
Your support empowers individuals, strengthens families and makes our community a better place to live.
Sawyer Free Library is more than a place to find books; it is a place to connect, learn and grow, both within the walls of our building and beyond to your home, office or on the go. The Library provides resources for job seekers, support for language learners, early literacy programs for young children and their families, assistance with new technology, and help to navigate the increasingly complex world of online information.
If you haven’t yet please donate today and help ensure that the Library continues to evolve to meet the needs of our community in the new year and beyond.
You can help the library grow by making a tax-deductible donation online today to the
What a year it has been, but through it all, YOU have been there for US! THANK YOU!
The SAWYER FREE LIBRARY is fortunate to have supporters that understand the Library’s value and the service it provides to the community!
Please view this short video from the President of the Library’s Board of Trustees who shares the important role YOU play in helping to make our work at the Sawyer Free Library possible.
Your support of our Annual Appeal allows us to continue to provide the unprecedented services the community expects, no matter the circumstances. With your help, we promise to be here for all our patrons, to continue to adapt and evolve in service to our incredible and resilient community!
Children’s Librarian Christy Rosso showing the new computer to Gerri Kippen Heather’s Aunt
The Sawyer Free Library (SFL) has unveiled a new state of the art early literacy computer in the Children’s Room purchased by The Friends of the SFL in memory of beloved longtime children’s librarian assistant, Heather Falk, who passed away earlier this year.
For almost three decades, Ms. Falk brought her irresistible enthusiasm and joy to the Gloucester community’s children and families through her work at the Sawyer Free Library. Heather joined the staff of the Library shortly after graduating from Gloucester High School.
The Friends of the Sawyer Free Library, a community of dedicated library users whose fundraising activities support library programming and services, in gratitude and honor of Ms. Falk purchased an AWE early literacy computer for the Children’s Room in her name.
“Heather was a warm, kind, and encouraging person who deeply enjoyed making the lives of people that much larger through her work at the Library, stated Rebecca Aliberte, the President of the Friends of the SFL. “This advanced learning station will help to continue Heather’s legacy by promoting early childhood literacy and prepare Gloucester’s youngest students for success in school and beyond.”
“We are very proud, grateful, and excited to have received the new Awe Learning computer from the Friends of the Library. It is designed for children ages 2-8 and has more than 70 educational software games and activities they will really enjoy. Children can play bilingual games, too,” said Christy Rosso, SFL’s Children’s Librarian. “Heather would be very honored by this gift of the Friends in her name. She was kind and friendly to everyone, touching all of us with her gentle spirit.”
Heather Falk at work in the Sawyer Free Library’s Children’s Room
With the Sawyer Free Library now open for select onsite services, children and their families are welcome to use and enjoy the new Awe Station when visiting the Children’s Room. The Library is open to the public six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm, except for Thursday when it is open from 12 to 7 pm. Visitors are requested to keep their visits to 30 minutes or less. All visitors must wear masks, practice physical distancing, and all public spaces have limited capacities.
For detailed information about the Sawyer Free Library’s services, programs, procedures and policies, and COVID-19 updates, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.
The Sawyer Free Library‘s 2020 Annual Appeal campaign, “Here for You Every Day,” is now underway. Letters with appeal information are in the mail to over 1,500 Gloucester households. The goal is to raise $35,000 during this year-end campaign, which provides the Library much-needed annual support.
“This year has truly underscored the importance of our Sawyer Free Library. Over the last six months, we have seen a 30% increase in applications for new library cards with people learning and socializing with each other safely through the Library,” said Jenny Benedict, the Library Director.
The Sawyer Free Library relies on yearly donations from the community to provide a wide range of new collections and resources, state of the art technology, and innovative programming for all ages. This year especially, public support is critical to the Library. Throughout the pandemic, the Sawyer Free Library continued to play an essential role for the community by quickly pivoting to deliver uninterrupted library services through curbside pick-up and home delivery. The Library also deployed virtual alternatives to programming, boosted online collections for children and adults and provided increased access to them with hotspot and laptop lending devices. to. Just recently the Library reopened its doors to the public for select in-person services six days a week, including a study hall for local students and express public computer stations.
”We hope that the community will consider our annual appeal and join us in supporting the Sawyer Free Library, ensuring that the Library will continue to be here for us today and for generations to come,” added Mern Sibley, President of the Library’s Board of Trustees.
Donations to the Library may be made by check to the Sawyer Free Library, Annual Appeal, P.O. Box 415, Gloucester, MA 01930, or online at www.sawyerfreelibrary.org.
Get your Cooking On! Join the Sawyer Free Library’s Cook-a-Book Book Club tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 6th at 1pm at the top of Summit Ave. (weather permitting) for a fun afternoon of shared recipes and foodie talk! Register on our Calendar at sawyerfreelibrary.org. If it’s inclement weather, we will meet via Zoom, so it’s essential that you Register! This month we will be making something from our Thanksgiving table. Join us! (Social distancing and masks required!) #sawyerfreelibrary#sfl#cookabook#foodheals
The Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library is thrilled to announce beginning on Friday, October 30, 2020 at 10am, it will reopen the building to the public for select onsite services, many of which have been greatly missed and some that are new.
To keep its staff and patrons as safe as possible, the Library has implemented extensive preventative measures and controls, including that all staff and visitors will be required to wear masks, practice physical distancing and all public spaces have limited capacities.
The Sawyer Free Library will be openfor public service six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm, except for Thursday, when it is open from 12 to 7 pm. Visitors coming to the Library to borrow from the collections are requested to keep their visits to 30 minutes or less, including young people and their families in the Library’s Children’s Room. People are encouraged to search the online catalogue before visiting to see what is available and make a list of materials with their call numbers so they can be found more easily.
The public is requested to use the entrance closest to the Library area that they want to visit. The parking lot entrance will be for access to the Children’s Room and those with accessibility needs. The Dale Avenue entrance will be for the first floor where the fiction, DVD, and music collections are available for browsing and the Friends Book Shop is located. If people need materials from the non-fiction and local history collections on the second floor, the staff will be happy to retrieve them.
Also on the first floor, the Library will have two first-come first-served express public computer stations for 30 minute sessions. People needing public computer access for longer periods may check out a Chrome Book or an App Sampler Tablet along with a 3-hour Wireless Hot-Spot.
The Library will be opening the 2nd floor to students ages 11 and up as a Student Study Hall from 1 to 5 pm Monday through Friday. It will offer students independent study stations in a safe, welcoming environment where they will have access to WiFi, resources to support their learning and staff assistance to help them thrive. For everyone’s safety, all work stations and tables are socially distanced and sanitization supplies are readily available. Study spaces are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and students are requested to keep their visits to under 2 hours.
The library experience will be very different from the last time people visited. Furniture, tables, and seating have been removed to increase the amount of space available for proper social distancing. Directional pathways and signage will help manage traffic throughout the Library. Hand sanitizer stations are available. The staff will be social distancing behind glass barriers installed at service areas and wearing masks at all times.
The Sawyer Free Library staff recognizes that not everyone will be ready for an in-person visit and will continue to offer many of its offsite services. Library cardholders can still utilize the daily curbside pick up, digital collections for downloading, and its online programming for Book Clubs and children’s storytime. The staff is always happy to assist anyone by phone, email, and LibChat for questions about online resources, tech issues, and book recommendations.
The following services remain temporarily unavailable at the Sawyer Free Library: public indoor lounge seating, meeting rooms and group study spaces, newspapers, and in-person public programs.
For detailed information about the Sawyer Free Library’s services, programs, procedures and policies, and COVID-19 updates, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.
Presented by the Sawyer Free Library, Bridge Cape Ann and The Boston Globe in partnership with Backyard Growers, Gloucester Education Fund, Manship Artist Residency + Studios, Maritime Gloucester, Ocean Alliance and TownGreen 2025
This month we will be making something from our Thanksgiving table. Join us! (Social distancing and masks required!) 
Cape Ann Community 