Join the Sawyer Free Library’s Children’s Services for SHARK WEEK
A fun week full of Shark inspired programming!
For more information or to register for programs, SawyerFreeLibrary.org or call 978-325-5505.
Rick Roth and the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team will bring their exciting presentation, SNAKES OF THE WORLD, to the Sawyer Free Library outdoor amphitheater on Saturday, July 23 from 11am -12pm.
Join Rick and his team as they introduce many snakes, large and small, and some local! You will have the opportunity to hold and handle the snakes or admire them while learning about the amazing creatures.
The event is free and open to all. In case of inclement weather, the presentation will be held in the Library’s Friends Room. Questions? Contact: jvitale@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5505.
Calling all Tween’s – you don’t want to miss Spooky Storytelling this Thursday evening, July 21 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library! Great for Tweens grades 5-8.
Also be sure to mark you calendar for Paint Along Night on August 4 and Gaming Club on August 18, both 5:30-6:30pm.
Questions? Contact: mhall@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5549.
Join maritime researcher, Jon Johansen for an evening discussion on “Shipwrecks of New England” at the Sawyer Free Library on Tuesday, July 14 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
The only easy mode of transportation back in the 1800’s and up until the advent of the automobile and truck was sailing and steam vessels that plied the coast and oceans of the world. Traveling at that time could be dangerous as many of these vessels came to grief along the shores of New England, New York and the Canadian Maritimes. This lecture will cover some of the major disasters starting with the loss of SPARROWHAWK at Orleans, MA in 1626 right up to the loss of the submarine U.S.S. THRESHER off Cape Cod in 1963. Some of the others include: ROYAL TAR (1836), LEXINGTON (1840), ARCTIC (1854), ATLANTIC (1873), CITY OF COLUMBUS (1884), PORTLAND (1898), GENERAL SLOCUM (1904), LARCHMONT (1907), EMPRESS OF IRELAND (1914), and MONT BLANC (1917).
Johansen is the publisher of Maine Coastal News, a monthly publication dedicated to covering the waterfront of the state of Maine. He has a lifelong interest in shipwrecks and maritime history.
The event is free and open to the public. The Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue, Gloucester. For more information visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.
Sawyer Free Library is hosting an evening with Eric Klinenberg, Carnegie Medal-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Palaces for the People, on Thursday, July 14 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Klinenberg’s work tells us about how physical places bind us and libraries — where everyone is welcome — can heal divisions and inequalities in our society.
Library Board Trustee and former City Councilor Jenn Holmgren will make opening remarks about Sawyer Free 2025. The author talk and a dialogue with the audience will be followed by a dessert reception in the Library’s outdoor amphitheater.
This event is free and open to the public.
The Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. For more information visit, SawyerFreeLibrary.org or 978-325-5500.
The Friends of the Sawyer Free Library want to thank all our wonderful “friends” who donated, sorted or purchased books over these past 10 years since we opened for business. The Friends Book Shop will be closing temporarily for the renovation and expansion of the Sawyer Free Library, which is tentatively slated to begin in early 2023 and reopen again in 2025.
Please note, that as now, book donations will no longer be accepted.
Here are a few key dates to keep in mind:
July 1-31 Bonanza book sale will be held – 50 % off all books!!!
Mid -August Book Shop will cease operations until the SFL reconstruction is completed in 2025.
Please stop by the Book Shop to stock up on your summer reading while we still have an abundant supply of “gently used books”. We appreciate your many years of support and look forward to seeing you in our new library location in 2025.
If you have questions, please email us at friendsofsawyer@gmail.com.
Library kicks off summer reading fun with a family friendly concert on June 28 at 11AM
The Sawyer Free Library (SFL) will officially be the hottest place to be this summer!
The Sawyer Free Library is excited to announce the launch of its annual “Summer at the Library,” offering free programs for all ages to entertain, spark, and encourage a lifelong love of reading and learning. From innovative reading challenges to ukulele lessons and shark week adventures to book discussions, author talks, and much more, there’s something for everyone. The summer fun kicks off on Tuesday, June 28 at 11:00 am with a family-friendly concert featuring Elijah T. Grasshopper’s Rainbow Dance Party in the Library’s outside amphitheater.
The theme for this year’s annual summer reading challenge, “Read Beyond the Beaten Path,” encourages readers of all ages to explore new worlds and experiences in books that expand their imaginations. The Library’s innovative incentives and activities encourage kids and teens to stay active and read for fun and help them avoid the black hole that is the summer slide, when critical skills learned during the school year are lost over the summer.
“Learning for kids and teens goes on all year round at Sawyer Free Library, and we know how important free ways to keep learning through the summer are for families,” said Library Director Jenny Benedict. “Summer is the perfect time for all ages to read, create, engage and have fun discovering new interests and exploring new topics. We hope all children and families make the Sawyer Free Library a regular stop this summer.”
To get started, young people and their families can pick up their “Welcome to Summer Reading Packets” Summer Reading and Activity Log at the Library, which has program information, the event calendar, activities, and fun summer treats. Children can stay on top of their summer reading with their “Read Beyond the Beaten Path” time-tracking reading logs. Then from June 28 to August 6, after reading for 500 minutes (or are read to), they win prizes, including tickets to the Topsfield Fair. People can register in person or online for the program.
Highlights of Summer at the Library programming for children include (with all details sawyerfreelibrary.org):
And all are invited to a midsummer celebratory outside concert featuring the two bands, “Ants on a Log” and “Bee Parks and the Hornets,” in collaboration with Rockport and Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Libraries, on Saturday, July 30.
SFL has big plans for middle school kids and teens this summer too. Students entering grades 6-12 are encouraged to track their Summer Reading on the custom form available on the Library’s website to qualify for weekly prize drawings and the grand prize drawing of two whale watch tickets, courtesy of Cape Ann Whale Watch. There is also a full summer schedule of weekly programs, including Stem-tastic Thursdays, Science Saturdays, Tween Nights, Gaming Club, Summer Reading Help, and much more.
Due to last year’s success, SFL is once again giving adults the chance to get in on the summer fun with Adult Book Bingo 2022. From now until September 1, 2022, those 18 and older can keep track of the books they read on the Library’s downloadable custom bingo card by writing the title and author in the matching square. Each completed horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line enters you into a raffle to win $25, $50, or $75 Cape Ann Gift Certificates. In addition to the programs the Library always offers adults—technology training, job search help, author talks, etc.—there will also be summer-themed special programs available.
Thanks to the generous support of the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and the Gloucester Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, program participation is free. Registration is now open for all children, teens, and adult programs.
Sawyer Free Library’s summer operating hours beginning on June 18, will be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8am to 6pm, Thursday 10am to 7pm, Friday 10am to 5:00pm and Saturday 10:00am to 1pm and 24/7 at sawyerfreelibrary.org.
For more information about the “Summer at the Sawyer Free Library” and to register for programs, visit: sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.
This Saturday, June 25, from 10:00am to 12:00pm drop into the Sawyer Free Library’s Children’s Services and make your own mini STEM Sail Boat in celebration of Fiesta Weekend!
No registration required. While Supplies Last. For questions, call 978-325-5505, email mhall@sawyerfreelibrary.org or visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.
Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester.
A special evening celebrating author Edith Wharton and the complicated splendor of the 20th Century Gilded Age on Thursday, June 30th
The Sawyer Free Library, in collaboration with the Gloucester Stage Company, is hosting a special event, Edith Wharton: Between the Sheets (and the Pages), on Thursday, June 30 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Library located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester.
The evening will explore some lesser-known aspects of the life of celebrated novelist Edith Wharton’s (House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome), including her passionate affair with Morton Fullerton in Paris.
Massachusetts Playwright Anne Undeland will discuss the correspondence between Wharton and Fullerton that inspired her award-nominated play, MR. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS, a turn-of-the-century tale of unbridled passion set to be staged by the Gloucester Stage Company. Professor M.M. Dawley of Boston University will speak about Wharton’s work and how, under the surface, the Gilded Age, and Wharton herself, were not that innocent. Actors from Gloucester Stage will then present a scene from the production which will open on July 1 and run through July 24.
Light refreshments will be offered in the Library’s amphitheater to conclude the event. The special evening is free and open to the public. For more information, visit Sawyer Free Library.org and for information on the play, visit gloucesterstage.com.
Thursday, June 30th at the Sawyer Free Library
The Sawyer Free Library hosted the 2022 Poetry Without Paper Contest winners Thursday evening, June 9th.
The award-winning students read their poetry to a standing-room-only crowd filled with friends and family and then recognized for their achievements. John Ronan, former Poet Laureate of Gloucester, and Christy Rosso, the Sawyer Free’s Children’s Librarian, presented the awards. Ronan, who serves as one of the contest judges and co-conceived the contest 20 years ago, stated, “I believe that there are probably future Nobel Poet Laureates among tonight’s winners. The caliber of creativity and writing this year was outstanding. We should be proud of all the students that participated.”
The Sawyer Free Library’s Poetry without Paper Contest has celebrated thousands of local students’ outstanding writing for the past 20 years while engaging the community’s youth in the art form and encouraging them to use poetry as a creative expression.
Winners were chosen from each age group: high school, middle school, and elementary school. First-place winners in all categories received $150 Cape Ann gift certificates, second-place winners a $100 gift certificates, and third-place winners a $50 gift certificate with Honorable Mention awarded a poetry book. All winning poets receive a certificate and an invitation to appear on 1623 Studio’s production, The Writer’s Block with John Ronan.
The 2022 Winning Poets:
High School:
First Place: “Tears of the Chrysanthemum” by Olivia Hogan-Lopez, GHS, 12th Grade
Middle School:
First Place: “Ascending like Icarus” by Emma Wilt, O’Maley, 8th Grade
Second Place: “The Wrong Picture” by Esme Sarrouf, Homeschool, 8th Grad
Third Place: “Cracked, but Never Broken” by Aleena Brown, O’Maley, 7th Grad
Honorable Mentions: “The Owl” by Riley Cavanaugh, O’Maley, 7th Grade
“Where I’m From”, Emily Rattray, O’Maley, 7th Grade
Elementary School
First Place: “Magical Books”, Kathleen Rowe-Joyce, West Parish, 3rd Grade
Second Place: “Fifth Grade”, Gabriella McKearney, Plum Cove, 5th Grade
Third Place: “Friends” by Elizabeth Olson, Beeman, 5th Grade
Honorable Mentions: “Lost” by Bianca Numerosi, Plum Cove, 4th Grade
“Gravity” by Jack Frithsen, West Parish, 2nd Grade
Cape Ann Community 