programming

Live Your Best Life – Session 2: Fuel Your Life with Passion

~ Sawyer Free Library

Discover the driving forces that make life meaningful and fulfilling in the second of the Sawyer Free Library‘s program “Live Your Best Life” taking place on Thursday, October 17 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at 21 Main Street, downtown Gloucester.

In this dynamic session with professional life coach Marcy Plante, we’ll explore ways to uncover your true passions and align them with your life’s purpose. Expect an inspiring journey that will leave you feeling empowered, excited, and ready to live with intention and zest. 

Registration is required at sawyefreelibrary.org. For question, contact at lryan@sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Marcy Plante is a dedicated professional with over 50 years of diverse experience as a coach, wellness industry leader, and educator, holding a master’s degree in education. She successfully managed a health club for 17 years, guiding people toward achieving their fitness goals and continually pursuing personal growth. In her free time, Marcy enjoys boating, collecting sea glass, skiing, and cycling, while her true passion lies in helping others unlock their potential and live life with enthusiasm.

Musical Storytime at SFL @ 21 Main Street on Friday morning, June 16th

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library is excited to present Musical Storytime @ 21 Main Street on Friday, June 16 at 11:15 a.m. for our youngest patrons and their caregivers!

Join Ruthanne Paulson for some musical fun at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in Downtown Gloucester. It will be a festive morning of Spring fun, stories, singing, dancing and playing music.

There is no registration needed. Questions? 978-325-5500 or sawyerfreelibrary.org

The Diamond Eye: Author Talk with Kate Quinn

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join the Sawyer Free Library on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:00 pm for a captivating virtual conversation with historical fiction writer KATE QUINN as she discusses her newest release, The Diamond Eye, and her other works. Quinn is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code.

Quinn’s latest book, The Diamond Eye, offers an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.  Click HERE to register.

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son – but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious young woman to deadly sniper – a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.

Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC – until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons, and enemy bullets, in the deadliest duel of her life.

Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a woman and mother who became a soldier and who found her place in the world that changed the course of history forever.

Click HERE to register for author talk and to be sent the event Zoom link.

About the Author: Kate Quinn is a New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction.  She is a native of Southern California, and she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code. She and her husband now live in Seattle with their rescue dogs.

Click HERE to register and to be sent the event Zoom link. For questions, or to learn about other upcoming author talks please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.

This event is brought to the community in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium.

Author Talk with Simon Winchester: Tuesday, 9/20

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library is pleased to host a virtual conversation with prolific British-American writer, journalist, and consummate adventurer SIMON WINCHESTER on Tuesday, September 20 at 2:00pm.

The NYT bestselling author will cover many aspects of his work across myriad fields of history, technology, and geology as well as the author’s personal expeditions, including his path to becoming the acclaimed author he is today of more than 30 titles, including The Professor and the Madman, Pacific, The Perfectionists, and most recently, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World. 

Virtual Author Talk on Tuesday, September 20 at 2pm

About the Author: Beginning his writing career in journalism, Simon Winchester has found renowned success in the world of non-fiction and now works almost exclusively as an author.  Aside from his numerous books, Simon Winchester OBE has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Geographic, and Conde Nast Traveler among many others. Honored with several awards throughout  his career—Britain’s Journalist of the Year in 1971 among them—in 2006 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to journalism and literature. In addition, he received an Audie Award for Non-Fiction for The Perfectionists and was made an Honorary Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in 2009.  

This is a virtual event, for link, register at sawyerfreelibrary.org. For questions, contact: moneill@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5562.

Sawyer Free Library Receives State Grant for Innovative STEM Programming 

~ Sawyer Free Library

Library to Launch Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club for Elementary and Middle School Students 

It’s full STEM ahead for Sawyer Free Library‘s young patrons with the launch of Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club, a new innovative after-school program made possible through a federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC).

The grant of $9,800 will expand Gloucester’s public library’s programming to promote interest in science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) learning. The Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club supports the digital, scientific and technological goals of 4th through 8th graders aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. It will introduce young scientists to Gloucester community members with careers across a variety of STEM fields and connect them with Gloucester’s natural environment.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) awarded Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) direct grants to public libraries at its July 7, 2022, board meeting. Federal LSTA grants are funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

“Each community in Massachusetts is unique and has its own local needs,” said Robert Favini, Head of Library Advisory and Development at the MBLC. “These grants allow libraries to address those local needs directly, whether it’s programming for children and teens, helping residents find a path to citizenship, or protecting the town’s historic documents and artifacts.”

“We’re thrilled to be a recipient of this generous MBLC grant to fund the Sawyer Free Library’s newest program, the Young Gloucester Scientists Club,” said Library Director Jenny Benedict. “Sawyer Free Library plays a vital role in supporting young people to discover their interests and direct their own learning.” Benedict added, “The future of our local environment is dependent on young people today developing a strong sense of place and community and engaging in meaningful learning together to solve our most pressing environmental concerns.”

Children’s Librarian Marisa Hall, who developed the Young Gloucester Scientists Club and applied for the grant, said, “These funds give the Sawyer Free Library an incredible opportunity to expand our current STEM programs and encourage students to further explore their interests in the sciences. This project connects them to a sense of “place” by using our own community’s physical resources and social connections to introduce them to new and innovative STEM concepts and topics.”

The Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club features three components:  in-person programs, circulating STEM kits and online video interviews. The in-person family programming will introduce young people to Gloucester community members with careers across various STEM fields, providing mentors from various backgrounds. Programs will feature local sea, land and sky topics and will highlight our rich Maritime history and culture as Gloucester celebrates its 400th anniversary. 

The Club will take a hands-on approach to learning, build community connections and encourage youth to actively think like scientists by observing, questioning, and experimenting with the world around them. Kicking off in 2023, the library will host Afterschool Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club monthly meetings January through May. In the summer, it will feature a three-day Astronomy “Crash Course” and a series of four Young Gloucester Summer Scientist’s Club Field Trips.  All in-person programs will be held in the Library’s transitional space located on Main Street in downtown Gloucester as well as locations throughout the community.  

The “Young Scientist” STEM kits will provide participants with fun and engaging learning at-home activities. The hands-on kits will be available to check out and include accompanying guides with FAQs, discovery tips, parent conversation starters, and more. There will be seven types: Mini Drone, Microscope and Color Camera, Reflector Telescope, Space Rover Inventor, Coding, and Marine Biology Explorer Kits. Materials will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and, if needed, other languages to be inclusive and accessible to all interested participants.

The “Let’s Meet an Expert” online videos will feature interviews with Gloucester’s STEM experts and scientists conducted by young scientists. The videos will create connections to those working to explore, discover and protect Gloucester’s natural environment. Topics will include Ocean Conservation and Sea Turtle Rehabilitation (NOAA), SnotBots, Drones and Observing Whales (Ocean Alliance), Whale Protection (The Whalemobile), Astronomy (Gloucester Astronomy Club), Using our Natural Environment to Design Solutions for our Future (Biomimicry New England) and more. 

The schedule and specifics of the new after-school program will be forthcoming. For more information, visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org.

Twenty-one libraries received Federal LSTA grants for a total amount of $220,085 awarded. Grants are open to libraries of all types that meet the eligibility requirements. In addition to the direct library grant program, the MBLC uses LSTA funds to support statewide programs and services, including summer reading programs, research databases, the statewide eBook program, the Commonwealth Catalog and mass.gov/libraries which has information and resources for residents. LSTA is administered on the federal level by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in the Commonwealth by the MBLC. More information about LSTA can be found at www.mass.gov/mblc.

“Snakes of the World” with Rick Roth at the Sawyer Free Library on Saturday morning!

~ Sawyer Free Library

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. 

Celebrate Black Music: A Soul Conversation at the Sawyer Free Library with Schuyler Traughber

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Thursday, June 16 from 5:30 – 7:00pm, the Sawyer Free Library is hosting a presentation by local author and long-time music industry insider Schuyler Traughber on Soul Music’s history in pop culture focusing on a “Study of the Soul Music Environment” by Harvard Business School for CBS/Columbia Records in 1972. “The Harvard Report” has contributed to a powerful era, musically, while controversially contributing to the demise of Stax Records in the mid-1970s and Motown being sold to Boston Ventures/MCA Records in the 1980s, enriching corporate America’s distribution-control of Black Music.

 Schuyler Traughber has worked as a road musician, arranger, producer and label executive for We Produce/Stax Records, CBS Records, Motown Records as well as U.S. Business Rep for King Records/MCA, Tokyo. After fifteen years as a Music Business/Management faculty member at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Sky currently resides in Gloucester and is co-author of an upcoming book: “POWER 101, The Harvard Report, Soul Music, & The American Dream.”

The event will take place on the Main Floor of the Library, located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. It is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5555. 

Sawyer Free Library to host Nick Sullivan, author of  “The Blue Revolution” on Wednesday, June 15 at 6 pm

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library will be presenting an engaging and informative evening with Nick Sullivan -the author of The Blue Revolution on Wednesday, June 15, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The New Bedford author will discuss his research and ideas on the “Blue Revolution, the rapid development of aquaculture in recent years. He will offer a new way of thinking about fish, food, and oceans by profiling the people and policies, transforming a challenged seafood industry into one that is fueled by fishermen, locavores, and local seafood supply chains interested in sustainable, traceable, quality seafood. He will share how the practices of 30 years ago that perpetuated an overfishing crisis are rapidly changing and the global challenges to preserving healthy oceans.

Sullivan is a writer and editor who examines the impact of business and technology on international development. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Maritime Studies Program and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Emerging Market Enterprises, both in the Fletcher School at Tufts University. The Blue Revolution is his fourth book.

The event will take place on the Main Floor of the Library, located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. It is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5555.  

“Ask A Muslim Anything” with Robert Azzi at Sawyer Free Library

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Thursday, June 2 at 6:00pm, join Robert Azzi at the Sawyer Free Library, for a conversation about being a practicing Muslim in small-town New England. The Exeter-based photojournalist, who is an Arab-American Muslim, has put together the program called “Ask a Muslim Anything” that he hopes will help reduce misunderstandings between people of different faiths.  As a part of it, he visits area communities to provide space for open questions about his faith, offering one man’s perspective and experience. Is there a question you’ve always wondered about Islam but never had the opportunity to ask? This is your chance.

Ask a Muslim Anything: Thursday, June 2 from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the Sawyer Free Library located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. The event is free and open to all to attend. For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.