The Sawyer Free Library’s Romance Book Club đź’– 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.
Every ninth grader at Gloucester High School is represented in the Tween | Teen Zone at SFL @ 21 Main Street with squares they designed to ‘speak’ for themselves.
The public is invited to come and see this beautiful collaborative collage!
The students participated in this collaborative art activity as part of a Library Information Session that Gloucester High School coordinated by SFL Teen Librarian Meg O’Neil and GHS Librarian Samantha Teixeira.
During Teen Librarian Meg’s visits to Gloucester High School, she had an opportunity to share all about library resources and facilities, ensuring that all students have an SFL card and know about the Tween and Teen Zone as a free, public, safe community space.
For more information about the SFL Tween/Teen Zone at www.sawyerfreelibrary.org or visit Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street, Gloucester.
It will be a whale of a time at Gloucester City Hall on Friday afternoon, March 31st, when the Sawyer Free Library hosts Whale Watch Naturalist Cindy McInnis and her life-sized inflatable whale from 3:30–5:30 pm, in Kyrouz Auditorium, as part of its Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club.Â
Young Scientists will have the opportunity to step inside Nile, the 43-foot long and 30-foot wide inflatable humpback, and learn how whales are similar and different from humans in this interactive program. They will learn about Nile’s migratory path, how many calves she’s had, and how researchers came to this information. Artifacts such as baleen, teeth, and bones will be available for children to see and feel as a part of this interactive program.
The Whalemobile program is suitable for 2nd-8th graders, ages 7 and up. It is free and open to all to attend, although registration is required for each young scientist planning on stepping into the whale. Please register on the calendar page of the SFL website. People can sign up in half-hour intervals starting at 3:30 pm and ending at 5:30 pm on the calendar page of SawyerFreeLibrary.org.  The event will take place in Kyrouz Auditorium on the second floor of Gloucester City Hall located at 9 Dale Avenue.
The Young Gloucester Scientists Club is a monthly club for 4th through 8th graders, which takes a hands-on approach to learning, building community connections, and encouraging local youth to actively think like scientists by observing, questioning, and experimenting with the world around them.Â
In addition to monthly field trips in the community, circulating Kits and library-produced Digital Content provide children with fun learning activities to do at home and in-person family programming that introduces them to Gloucester Community members with careers across a variety of STEM fields.
To learn more about the program or upcoming events, visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the Sawyer Free Library @ 21 Main Street is hosting a “Literary St. Patrick’s Day Party” on Tuesday, March 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. The evening is free and open to all to come and enjoy!Â
Local harpist Moira Kelly will open the evening at 5:15 p.m. with a lively and interactive performance of traditional Celtic music.Â
Then at 6:15 p.m., Massachusetts author Robert T. McMaster will introduce his latest novel, Rose of Glenkerry: A County Wicklow Mystery.  He will present via Zoom, which will be broadcast at the Library for viewing. Both a mystery and a touching love story, the book is set amid the incomparable scenery of Ireland’s County Wicklow. Bob will read excerpts from his book, accompanied by images and music of the Emerald Isle.Â
McMaster is a native of Southbridge, Massachusetts, with family ties to Ireland. He has also authored The Trolley Days Series, set in Massachusetts in the World War I era, and a biography of pioneering dinosaur scientist Edward Hitchcock, All the Light here Comes from Above: The Life and Legacy of Edward Hitchcock.
Festive refreshments will also be provided. Though registration is not required, the first three to fill out a registration form will receive a free copy of the book!
For more information visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5562.Â
When: Sunday, March 26, 2023 11am-2pm
Where: Gloucester High School Field House
32 Leslie O. Johnson Road, Gloucester
Who: Gloucester families, friends and children of all ages.
Suggested donation $5/family at the door; no family will be turned away for lack of funds.
What: A day of hands-on, low-tech play for all ages, hosted by Gloucester Education Foundation and run by a powerhouse team of community and student volunteers!
The Power of Play centers around fun family activities, and is designed to be welcoming to a broad spectrum of ages, ability levels, and learning styles. This year’s event will also feature some special activities from regions around the world that are present in our Gloucester community.
It would take us all day to name all of the awesome activities at Power of Play, but here are a few: collaborative art projects, fort-building, oobleck-making, sand play, capoeira, an invisible ink scavenger hunt, games from around the world, an infant/toddler exploration zone, and LOTS more.
The Power of Play is hosted by Gloucester Education Foundation and sponsored by Cape Ann Savings Bank, Sawyer Free Library, and Seashore Comfort Solutions.
Contact: Emily Siegel, emily@thinkthebest.org or 978-282-5550
Gloucester Education Foundation drives innovation, inspires creativity, expands student opportunities, and empowers educators to strengthen teaching and learning in the Gloucester Public Schools. Learn more at www.thinkthebest.org
The SFL Romance Book Club, “Ladies Night In,” resumes on February 23rd at 5:30 p.m. at Sawyer Free Library @21 Main Street.
You won’t want to miss this meeting’s book, “Duchess If You Dare” by Anabelle Bryant. Copies of the novel are available now at the Library to check out.
To register for this event, click HERE or visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
To learn more about the free programs at the Sawyer Free Library, visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
Thursday, February 16, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
An insightful chat with award-winning author Grace M. Cho who discusses her memoir, Tastes Like War: Part food memoir, part sociological investigation.Â
Grace M. Cho grew up as the daughter of a white American merchant marine and the Korean bar hostess he met abroad. They were one of few immigrants in a xenophobic small town during the Cold War, where identity was politicized by everyday details—language, cultural references, memories, and food. When Grace was fifteen, her dynamic mother experienced the onset of schizophrenia, a condition that would continue and evolve for the rest of her life.
Part food memoir, part sociological investigation, Tastes Like War is a hybrid text about a daughter’s search through intimate and global history for the roots of her mother’s schizophrenia. In her mother’s final years, Grace learned to cook dishes from her mother’s childhood in order to invite the past into the present, and to hold space for her mother’s multiple voices at the table. And through careful listening over these shared meals, Grace discovered not only the things that broke the brilliant, complicated woman who raised her—but also the things that kept her alive.
About the Author: Grace M. Cho is Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of Staten Island. She received a PhD in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MEd from Harvard School of Education. Her work crosses disciplinary boundaries and seeks to engage popular audiences. From 2005 to 2007 she was a contributing performance artist for Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the Forgotten War, a collaborative art project based on the oral histories of Korean War survivors and their children. Her participation in Still Present Pasts influenced the form and content of her first book, Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy and the Forgotten War (University of Minnesota, 2008) which combined fiction, performance, autoethnography and sociological research. It won a 2010 book award from the American Sociological Association for its innovative methodology. Her second book, Tastes Like War, was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the winner of the 2022 Asian Pacific American Literature Award for Adult Nonfiction.
To receive the link for this free online event register at sawyerfreelibrary.org
Tuesday, February 28, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
An invigorating conversation with highly acclaimed author Sadeqa Johnson who will be speaking about her brand-new novel, The House of Eve! Â
In The House of Eve, Fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising her daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed onto her like a birthright.
Eleanor Quarles arrived in Washington DC with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t just let anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.
The lives of these two women collide in the most unexpected way as they both face life altering decisions. The House of Eve is a fast-paced, harrowing story that hinges on what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.
About the Author: Sadeqa Johnson is the award-winning author of four novels, including Yellow Wife. Her accolades include the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, and the USA Best Book Award for Best Fiction. She is a Kimbilio Fellow, former board member of the James River Writers, and a Tall Poppy Writer. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children. To learn more, visit SadeqaJohnson.net.
To receive the link for this free online event, register at sawyerfreelibrary.org
SAT Strategy Session: Thursday, February 16 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
The Princeton Review will be presenting a Free, Virtual SAT Strategy Session open to all Gloucester community members on Thursday, February 16 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. In this presentation, students are given some simple, basic strategies that will make sure scores improve on their next practice or official exam.Â
To register click HERE.
SAT Practice Test: Saturday, February 18 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
The Princeton Review will presents a free, virtual SAT Practice Test on Saturday, February 18 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Registrants will receive a link to an online classroom and further instructions upon registration to be able to take the test from the comfort of wherever you have internet! Be prepared with a calculator and scrap paper to work out the questions. A quiet space free of distraction is highly recommended.
Click HERE to get access to the test.
For those who need internet access or a laptop, visit the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester to check out a WiFi Hotspot, Chromebook or the many other Digital Devices available to cardholders. Details available at sawyerfreelibrary.org
For questions about The Princeton Review Strategy Session and Practice Test, please contact Sawyer Free Library’s Community Librarian Meg O’Neill at moneill@sawyerfreelibrary.org.
The Sawyer Free Library is pleased to announce some exciting additions and promotions to the staff at the start of this new year.Â
Meghan O’Neill has recently joined SFL as a new Community Librarian with a focus on serving newcomers and the Gloucester High School teen community. Joella Allen is the new Digital Services Librarian responsible for managing digital learning programs and digital resource access through SFL’s website. In addition, Joann Dunajski has been promoted to the newly created position of Customer Experience Supervisor, and Leah Svensson to the role of Community Librarian.Â
“I am thrilled to say that there are two more dynamic reasons to visit the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street with the addition of Joella and Meg to our dedicated and talented staff. I am also delighted to share the news of the well-deserved promotions of Joanne and Leah,” stated Jenny Benedict, the Sawyer Free Library Director. “Their collective experience and knowledge strengthens our great staff team and brings new enthusiasm for achieving our goals.”
Meghan O’Neill brings her extensive library experience, having worked in school, college, and public libraries, to her new position as a Community Librarian at SFL. “I am happy to have joined Sawyer Free Library and to be in Gloucester,” said O’Neill about her new role. “I’m committed to equity and accessibility, outreach with various community partners, and uplifting voices through programming and enhanced online services.”
She comes to SFL after serving over a decade as the Librarian at the Pingree School in Hamilton, MA. Previously, she served as a librarian at The Buckley School in California. O’Neill holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of California Los Angeles, a Master’s of Arts from Dartmouth College, and a Bachelor’s of Art from Bishop’s University in Quebec.
SFL’s new Digital Services Librarian, Joella Allen, shared, “I am excited to join the Sawyer Free Library and help our patrons of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with their technology needs. I’m looking forward to the exciting spaces and technology coming in the next few years and the programs we’ll be able to offer!”
Joella grew up in California before leaving to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and English at Johns Hopkins University. She completed her Master’s Degrees in Library and Information Studies and Archival Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, where most recently Allen worked for a health technology start-up doing privacy and information security.
Already a familiar and welcoming presence at SFL, Joann Dunajski has been promoted to the newly created Library position of Customer Experience Supervisor. With her extensive Library services experience and passion for serving the public, Joann is now responsible for supervising and maintaining the daily operations of the primary public service desk and collection circulation, providing customer service in person and remotely, and most importantly, creating a welcoming environment for people of all ages.Â
After two years serving as a Library Assistant at SFL while she worked toward her Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Rhode Island, Leah Svensson has been promoted into the position of Community Librarian. Â
SLF invites the community to meet Joella and Meg and say hello to the friendly and talented staff at the Library’s new sun-filled space at 21 Main Street, downtown Gloucester. While there, learn about the Library’s in-person and digital services, resources, programs, and events. SFL@21 Main Street is open Monday through Wednesday, 8am to 6pm, Thursday 10am to 7pm and Friday and Saturday, 10am to 5pm or 24/7 at sawyerfreelibrary.org.Â
For more information about SFL@21 Main Street, please visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.
Cape Ann Community 