Gloucester

Gloucester’s So Salty at the Sawyer Free Library this Saturday, 1/20 – it is all about SALT ISLAND

~ Sawyer Free Library

GLOUCESTER’S SO SALTY! at the SAWYER FREE LIBRARY

As a part of Gloucester’s So Salty celebration, the Sawyer Free Library invites you to learn more about Salt Island. This Saturday, January 22 at 2 pm join researcher Mary Ellen Lepionka for a virtual presentation on the history of Salt Island. After, Jayne & Andy Knott of Save Salt Island and Denton Crews of Friends of Good Harbor Beach will present on recent efforts to preserve this area.

Click HERE to register for your Zoom Link or contact Julie Travers at jtravers@sawyerfreelibrary.org for more information.

sawyerfreelibrary.org

GLOUCESTER MEETINGHOUSE MLK DAY ANNUAL CELEBRATION JANUARY 17TH!

~ chasnaz

The Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation will host it 6th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration, live on Zoom, on Monday, January 17th at 2:00pm. Please preregister at http://www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org

The Racial Climate in Gloucester, What Lies Ahead will be the focus of the 2-hour program, including including findings of a new community survey. The keynote speaker will be Brian Saltsman, Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion at Alfred University in upstate New York. He is a leading advocate of addressing community issues between dominant and marginalized racial, ethnic or economic sectors as allies, a process known as “allyship.”

The invited presenting organizations are:

  • The Gloucester Racial Justice Team, reporting on a survey that assessed how much people of color “feel like they have a sense of community and belong in the city, including how race and ethnicity play a role in their daily lives,” according to GRJT spokesperson Gail Seavey.
  • The North Shore Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which most recently has focused on racism issues within Danvers High School athletic teams. A branch leader will discuss the North Shore branch’s activities across a region stretching from Lynn to New Hampshire.
  • The Diversity and Equity Committee of the Gloucester 400th Anniversary Celebration, which is researching narrative stories that accurately depict racial and ethnic relationships since European settlement began displacing the native, indigenous Pennacook-Abenaki peoples. This will include years of slave ownership and maritime commerce in the global slave trade.

A video of this program with be available on the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation’s YouTube channel afterwards. The Foundation is a nonsectarian, federally-recognized nonprofit, organized to promote the preservation and community programming of the historic 1806 Meetinghouse on Middle Street, home of the first Universalist Church in America. Tax-deductible donations are welcome and may be made on the website, or by check to “GMF” at 10 Church Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Sawyer Free Library’s Most Popular Books Of 2021

~ Sawyer Free Library

As the page turns on 2021, the Sawyer Free Library has compiled a list of some of the most popular books checked out this year by adults, teens, and children. Of the thousands of print, digital, and audiobooks that patrons borrowed, these were Gloucester’s favorites in 2021. 

Fiction:

Gloucester seemingly read “around the world” when it came to their top Fiction books of 2021. 

  • The top book checked out by patrons was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, a historical fiction set in The Dust Bowl, the drought-stricken Southern Plains region, during the Great Depression.
  • Next, the list crosses the ocean to an isolated island in West Ireland with the contemporary murder mystery novel The Guest List by Lucy Foley. 
  • Returning to the United States, the powerful novel, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, focuses on two twin sisters and issues of racial identity and bigotry in the segregated south.
  • With the backdrop of the City of Lights, bestselling author Louise Penny tells the story of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in Quebec in her latest book, All the Devils Are Here.
  • Isabel Allende’s novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, follows two of the thousands of Spaniards who emigrated to Chile after Franco and the Nationalists won the Spanish Civil War.
  • Klara and the Sun, written by Japanese-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro is a beautiful science fiction romance set far away in a dystopian future.

Non-Fiction:

Of Gloucester’s 25 most-read titles, only two are non-fiction, revealing Gloucester’s preference for a good story. But there were still many on the Top 100 list. 

  • The most popular non-fiction title of 2021 was Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. Ten years after her acclaimed non-fiction book The Warmth of Other Suns, Wilkerson spoke to the struggles of 2021 in “Caste,” dissecting the not-so-subtle American caste system and the social stratification among race and class in the U.S.
  • A Women of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy who Helped win WWII by Sonia Purnell. This compelling and well-researched biography of Virginia Goillot reveals her pivotal role in coordinating the Resistance in Europe.
  • Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing by Olga Mecking. Based on the premise that the Dutch are the happiest people globally, this wellness guide shares how to embrace idleness and explains how doing nothing can make us happier, more productive, and more creative.
  • The final standout on the non-fiction list is Swimming to the Top of the Tide. Written by local author Patricia Hanlon, it chronicles four seasons of her daily immersion in New England’s Great Marsh.

Adults weren’t the only ones looking to learn and have a little literary fun this year. Children and young adults alike were browsing the Library’s shelves, in person and online, and to follow were some of their best-loved reads. 

Young Adult:

The Young Adult titles with the highest circulations were those on the school reading lists. These engaging books written for readers ages 12-18, include: 

The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and March: Book One, the first volume in a graphic novel trilogy about and by civil and human rights leader, John Lewis with Andrew Aydin. How-to books and self-help books were also popular with the Library’s younger patrons, as was Amanda Gorman’s book of poetry, The Hill We Climb. 

Children:

Five of the top fifteen books for children of reading age were by Jeff Kinney and are titles in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which encourages even reluctant readers to laugh at the antics of the irresistible main character Greg. Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man series fills two slots on the most popular list. Both titles of Zeeta Elliot’s magical series appeared: The Dragon Thief and Dragons in a Bag. The dragon theme continues on the island of Arcos in the popular Legends of the Sky books series by Liz Flanagan. 

For those interested, complete lists of the Sawyer Free Library’s Most Borrowed Books in 2021, including Adult Mysteries, Graphic Novels, and Teen and Children’s Nonfiction titles, can be found at sawyerfreelibrary.org. 

Anyone who resides or attends school in Gloucester can obtain a Library card for free by applying in person, online, or by mail. For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

Sawyer Free Library to host “Author Talk with Ted Reinstein” to discuss his new book on Saturday, Jan 8th at 2pm

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library will host award-winning author and journalist Ted Reinstein on Saturday, January 8, from 2:00-4:00 pm. He will speak about his book, Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier, on the Main Floor of the Library located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester, MA.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Copies of the book Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier will be available. Face masks are mandatory for those attending. 

In Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier, Ted Reinstein tells the story of the little-known heroes who fought segregation in baseball. From communist newspaper reporters to the Pullman car porters who saw that black newspapers espousing integration in professional sports reached the homes of blacks throughout the country. It also reminds us that the first black player in professional baseball was not Jackie Robinson but Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884 and that for a time-integrated teams were not that unusual. And then, as segregation throughout the country hardened, the exclusion of blacks in baseball quietly became the norm, and the battle for integration began anew.

Before Brooklyn by Ted Reinstein

Reinstein is an award-winning, longtime reporter for Boston’s celebrated nightly-newsmagazine, “Chronicle.” He is the author of three previous books, including New England Notebook: One Reporter, Six States, Uncommon Stories (Globe Pequot Press), selected by National Geographic Traveler in 2014 as a “Best Pick.” Ted is a native of Winthrop, Massachusetts.

For more information about the event or other Sawyer Free Library offerings, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

SAWYER FREE LIBRARY WELCOMES NEW CHILDREN’S LIBRARIAN TO STAFF

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library is pleased to welcome Marisa Hall as its newest Children’s Librarian.

“I am beyond pleased to welcome Marisa Hall, with her innovative thinking, boundless enthusiasm, and love of working with children, to our dedicated and talented staff at the Sawyer Free Library,” stated Jenny Benedict, the Library Director. “Marisa is so approachable and friendly. I know that our young patrons and their families will welcome her warmly.”

Marisa brings her extensive experience of creating and implementing programs and community outreach events designed to catch the attention and meet the needs of the library’s younger patrons to her new position at the Sawyer Free Library.  With expertise in STEM/STEAM concepts and practices, she will also be developing new innovative programs for children and teens of all ages.

“I’ve been so inspired by the Sawyer Free Library community and my warm welcome to Gloucester that I can’t wait to jump in and start working with the library’s young patrons,” said Marisa Hall on her new role. “I’m looking forward to getting to know even more of the community through my Saturday story-times and STEM programming in the new year.”

Marisa comes to Gloucester from New York, where she most recently served as the Senior Children’s Librarian New York Public Library’s Riverside branch for over four years. She has been recognized with numerous professional awards and certifications for her work in library services and received her M.L.I.S. with a concentration in School Media and Youth Services from Rutgers University and a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Delaware.  

The Children’s Room staff led by Christy Rosso.

SFL’s New Children’s Librarian

The Jim Dowd Fund at the Gloucester Education Foundation

~ Emily Siegel

So many were touched by the beautiful piece Bo Abrams wrote last week in memory of Gloucester’s beloved Jim Dowd and his brother, Johnny. In it, she shares what a difference mentors and caring adults made in Jim’s life, and how painful it was for him that they were missing from Johnny’s:

Jim talked a lot about all the people who mentored him along the way from the time he was about 12. It wasn’t any one person. But it was one person at time, one interest at a time, one program at a time, that helped him survive to get to the next thing. Someone to give a nudge to stick with it when something was hard. Someone to suggest a book or a program. Someone to talk about colleges or vocations or hopes and dreams.

Johnny never had that. Jim hated that.

Bo goes on the explain that here in Gloucester, the Gloucester Education Foundation is a key resource that helps hook kids into their passions and interests, and connect them to the supports they need:

Which leads me to Gloucester Education Foundation. They are the reason there is a band program and a hundred other programs that make sure practically every kid has something they can connect to in school. And they’re adding more. GEF is starting a mentor program at the high school in conjunction with Wellspring. And they just helped GHS get a grant to bring in an administrator in the vocational program. They are also beginning a student advisory group so students can have a say in GEF leadership which offers a stipend, because you can’t do internships for free if you have to make money.

In the five days since Bo shared this post and created a fundraiser for the new Jim Dowd Fund at GEF, Jim’s family and friends have raised over $15,000 to support mentoring and student leadership opportunities for Gloucester students. This is a testament to how loved Jim and Johnny were, how beautifully (and honestly) Bo wrote about them, and the insightful way she connected their divergent paths to the work GEF has done – and can do more of – to support students. 

We’re looking to grow this fund even more, so that we can help the Gloucester schools provide new opportunities to excite and engage our kids, to connect them with a caring adult or help them discover their voice. Consider a contribution to GEF in memory of Jim and Johnny, and in support of Gloucester students like both of them.

Historic Gloucester Gingerbread House Contest registration now open!

~ Sawyer Free Library

REGISTER HERE to enter into the Historic Gloucester Gingerbread House contest at the Sawyer Free Library as a part of the MIDDLE STREET WALK on Saturday, December 11th!

Recreate your favorite Gloucester building with gingerbread, frosting, candy and all things delicious!

Entries will be on display for all to see at the Sawyer Free Library located at 2 Dale Avenue for the Middle Street Walk!

Top prizes will be presented by the Library for best historic Gloucester gingerbread creation!

  • First prize  $100 Cape Ann Chamber Gift Certificate
  • Second prize $50 Cape Ann Chamber Gift Certificate

Open to all ages. For more information and to register go to sawyerfreelibrary.org

Register Today

SAWYER FREE LIBRARY to host ANNUAL MEETING on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library Corporation will be hosting its Annual Meeting on Wednesday evening, November 10, at the Sawyer Free Library from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The Corporator’s sign-in begins at 6:00 pm.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend this informative evening, although only Corporators can vote.

Masks are required, and for those interested in participating remotely, a zoom link is also available. 

The meeting will start at 6:30 pm with welcoming remarks by the President of the Board of Trustees, Mern Sibley, and the Mayor of Gloucester Sefatia Romeo Theken, followed by Library Director Jenny Benedict reporting on the current state of the Sawyer Free Library. 

Since the 2019 Annual General Meeting, plans for the 2025 Sawyer Free Library and Saunders House have been further developed. Principal architect Matt Oudens of Oudens Ello Architecture will be presenting at this meeting the latest designs for revitalizing and reimagining the buildings through a renovation of the existing building and a 15,000 sq. ft. addition. 

In addition the Mary M. Weissblum Volunteer Award is given each year in honor of one of the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library‘s (SFL) outstanding volunteers. This year, the prestigious award will be presented in memoriam to Sharon Pablo for her two decades of service to the Library. She served on the Board of Directors in several capacities and then continued to be actively involved with the Library. 

The Sawyer Free Library’s Annual Meeting will be from 6:30–8:00 pm on the main floor of the Sawyer Free Library located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. For more information and the Zoom link, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org

Sawyer Free Library to host presentation “Gloucester Urban Renewal” by historian Beth Welin

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library will be hosting the first two-part series: “Urban Renewal in Gloucester,” presented by Beth Welin, local historian and director of Manchester Historical Museum, on Saturday, October 23 at 2 pm.

See images of old Gloucester and learn about the city’s history and redevelopment. Attendees are encouraged to share personal memories throughout the presentation.

Part two of the series will be Saturday, November 6 at 2pm. Registration is not required but mask are for all that attend.

For more details, go sawyerfreelibrary.org

CHESS IN THE SAWYER FREE LIBRARY AMPHITHEATER THIS SATURDAY, 10/9

~ Sawyer Free Library

Make the right move and join the fun with CHESS IN THE AMPHITHEATER, this Saturday, October 9 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm outside in the Sawyer Free Library Amphitheater located at 2 Dale Avenue.

This fun and educational program will run through the month of October. It is open to players of all levels, ages and abilities. Weather permitting, those interested are welcome to gather in the Library’s Amphitheater anytime between 11 am and 1 pm to learn and play chess with the last games beginning at 12:45 pm. No reservations or advanced signup is needed.

The weekly Saturday sessions provide a unique opportunity for people to learn how to play chess in a welcoming environment that emphasizes learning something new and having fun, including the fundamentals and tips for playing a better game. For more experienced chess players looking to play a match, there will be several boards and pieces with time clocks. All chess players will be paired with a partner who will challenge and engage them at their skill level. 

For more information about Chess in the Amphitheater and other programs at the Sawyer Free Library,  visit: www.sawyerfreelibrary.org or like SFL on social media:  Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sawyerfreelibrary/and Instagram at instagram.com/sawyerfreelibrary/