Sawyer Free Library

Memoir Series: Author Talk with STELLA NAHATIS 

~ Sawyer Free Library

As a part of May’s Memoir Month, the Sawyer Free Library is pleased to welcome local author Stella Nahatis on Thursday, May 11 at 5:30 to discuss her newly released memoir, Taxi to America: A Greek Orphan’s Adoption Journey. All are welcome to attend this special event at the Library located at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.   To register click HERE or for more information, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Stella’s journey from Thessaloniki, Greece, to America begins with a pre-dawn taxi ride that she and her sister share while the coffin holding a loved one rides along in the taxi’s trunk. Orphaned and separated from her younger sister “for her own good” as the culture dictated at the time, Stella ends up being adopted by a Greek couple that had emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. At age 11, she overcomes multiple losses and cultural differences to find a place in her new homeland while finding ways to stay connected to those she loved in Greece.

This story of resilience and perseverance follows Stella’s journey of becoming an “Amerikanaki” and eventually reconnecting with her sister, who had stayed in Greece with her own set of adoptive parents. Even as Stella embraces her new life and culture in America, she rebuilds her loving relationship with her sister after an eight-year separation. Later in life, the sisters take another taxi ride together, this time to recover important details of their birth parents’ life stories that mirror the determination to survive and thrive that marks their own.

To register, or for more information, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Sawyer Free Library to Host Author Talk with Emily Franklin: THE LIONESS OF BOSTON

~ Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library will welcome EMILY FRANKLIN—poet and award-winning author who has appeared in the New York Times and the Boston Globe—for a discussion of her new book THE LIONESS OF BOSTON on Tuesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm. The event will be at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester. Registration is required at sawyerfreelibrary.org.  Please note that space is limited. 

A novel of historical fiction, “The Lioness of Boston” tells about the life of daring visionary Isabella Stewart Gardner, who created an inimitable legacy in American art and transformed the city of Boston itself.   It is a portrait of what society expected a woman’s life to be, shattered by a courageous soul who rebelled and was determined to live on her terms.

A misfit who befriended other outcasts to rise into art and intellectual society, Isabella used her own collections to open the now-famous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

By the time Gardner opened her home as a museum in 1903 — to showcase her collection of old masters, antiques, and objects d’art — she was already well-known for scandalizing Boston’s polite society. But when Isabella first arrived in Boston in 1861, newly married and unsure of herself, she was puzzled by the frosty reception she received from stuffy bluebloods.

At first, she strived to fit in. Then, following tragedy and upper-society rejection, she set out on a new path. 

Franklin describes how Isabella discovers her own outspoken nature and infiltrates the Harvard intellectual world. Then, as she explores the larger world, she meets artists and kindred spirits — Henry James, Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent. A worldwide traveler, she attends the first Impressionist exhibit, collects a wide range of paintings and objects, and forges an important relationship with Bernard Berenson, who will become her art dealer/confidante.

Freed by travel, Isabella explores the world of art, ideas,L and letters. From London and Paris to Egypt and Asia, she develops a keen eye for paintings and objects, and meets feminists ready to transform 19th-century thinking in the 20th century. Isabella becomes an eccentric trailblazer, painted by John Singer Sargent in a portrait of daring décolletage, and fond of such stunts as walking a pair of lions in the Boston Public Garden.

Franklin, whose award-winning work has appeared in The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Guernica, JAMA, and numerous literary magazines, has also been featured and read aloud on NPR and was named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries. A lifelong visitor to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, she lives outside of Boston with her family, including two dogs large enough to be lions.

Click HERE to register.  Space is limited.  Questions, 978-325-5500.

“The Lioness of Boston is a captivating story of a significant woman in Boston’s history who left that city a cultural legacy to last the ages. This beautiful novel will appeal to those who love masterful historical fiction, and stories of triumphant women who leave an indelible mark.” – New York Journal of Books

Sawyer Free Library to Celebrate Memoirs of Gloucester Authors in May

~ Sawyer Free Library

Author Talk at SFL with GAIL BRENNER NASTASIA on Thursday evening, May 4

Sawyer Free Library is pleased to present a series of local authors reading and discussing their memoirs this May at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.   All events are in person and open to the public. To register, or for more information, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Thursday, May 4, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Book Reading with local author GAIL BRENNER NASTASIA

Join local Author and Gloucester native Gail Brenner Nastasia, who will speak about her newly released memoir, The Fruit You’ll Never See. 

Gail learned early on that some people mattered and others didn’t. Despite moving away from Gloucester in her early twenties and becoming an attorney, it wasn’t until she began to appreciate the value in her criminally-charged clients, those with whom she shared similar struggles, that she was finally able to recognize her own worth. This new understanding gave Gail the courage to embrace her history fully and to stop hiding. A candid look at the things we inherit, Gail’s memoir reminds us of the value intrinsic in every human being and the responsibility we all have to each other and ourselves. After practicing criminal defense for sixteen years, Gail received her MFA from Emerson College in 2021. She is currently working on her second book while continuing her work in the legal field. Now in recovery from drug addiction for twenty years, Gail’s primary goal is to help others to recover from addiction. She is also the proud mother of three. 

Thursday, May 11, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Author Talk with STELLA NAHATIS 

Local author Stella Nahatis will discuss her newly released memoir, Taxi to America: A Greek Orphan’s Adoption Journey.

Stella’s journey from Thessaloniki, Greece, to America begins with a pre-dawn taxi ride that she and her sister share while the coffin holding a loved one rides along in the taxi’s trunk. Orphaned and separated from her younger sister “for her own good” as the culture dictated at the time, Stella ends up being adopted by a Greek couple that had emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. At age 11, she overcomes multiple losses and cultural differences to find a place in her new homeland while finding ways to stay connected to those she loved in Greece.

This story of resilience and perseverance follows Stella’s journey of becoming an “Amerikanaki” and eventually reconnecting with her sister, who had stayed in Greece with her own set of adoptive parents. Even as Stella embraces her new life and culture in America, she rebuilds her loving relationship with her sister after an eight-year separation. Later in life, the sisters take another taxi ride together, this time to recover important details of their birth parents’ life stories that mirror the determination to survive and thrive that marks their own.

Thursday, May 18, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Author Talk with VIRGINIA MCKINNON

Virginia McKinnon as she reads from her newly released memoir, A Fisherman’s Daughter: Growing Up Sicilian-American in the Oldest Fishing Port in America. 

At age 93, this first-time author shares short stories of her heritage growing up in Gloucester, spanning her lifetime, including her late husband’s WWII experiences in the Asiatic Pacific. Drawing on her vivid memories from throughout her life as a child when she could hop fishing boat to fishing boat during St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester Harbor to the joyful celebrations of marriage and family life, to her community and public life work as a social worker, eucharistic church minister, lector, and writer, Virginia’s book documents a cultural history of a way of life in Gloucester and America.

For more information and to register all events, visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Sawyer Free Library and Treetop Yoga present Storytime Yoga at Treetop Yoga Studio

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join Erin McKay and Sawyer Free Library for Storytime Yoga – free yoga for children exploring stories, movement and fun this Tuesday, May 2 at 10:45 a.m. at Treetop Yoga!

Hosted by Sawyer Free Library, the free program will be held at Treetop Yoga Studio, 3A Pond Road.  Yoga for children 5 and under and their caregivers. 

Register at sawyerfreelibrary.org. Questions? Contact: jvitale@sawyerfreelibrary.org 

STROKE AWARENESS COMMUNITY EVENT on MAY 2 at SFL at 21 Main Street

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library is proud to present this important community event about stroke health, made possible by Encompass Health and Beth Israel Lahey Health.

Join us on Tuesday, May 2 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. at Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street and learn the warning signs of a stroke and how to help prevent one from occurring by knowing the risk factors. The presenter is Chris S. Burke, MD who is a Neurologist and the Stroke Medical Director at Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals. Register at SawyerFreeLibrary.org.

2025 Sawyer Free Library Aims for Net Zero

~ Sawyer Free Library

Gloucester’s Public Library to be Cape Ann’s First Fossil Free Public Building

The Sawyer Free Library’s Board of Trustees is proud to announce that the renovated and expanded Library, set to open in 2025, will be the first public building on Cape Ann that generates renewable energy from solar and uses no fossil fuels for the building’s site energy. The 2025 Sawyer Free Library will serve as a leading example for the City of Gloucester and the Commonwealth in designing and operating a building for efficient consumption and generation of energy and water.

“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library makes Gloucester a leader in sustainable and renewable energy efforts. It is the first public building on Cape Ann serviced by an all-electric heat pump system powered by onsite renewable energy and puts Gloucester in the top 1% of public libraries across the Commonwealth,” stated the City of Gloucester Mayor  Greg Verga. “This new library will be a major resource for our community for generations to come and set the standard for our future.”

The Sawyer Free Library is committed to achieving a LEED Gold Certification and Mass Save Path 1 Net- Zero-Ready Verification —a status achieved by minimizing energy demand, generating as much electricity on site as possible through solar, and securing a renewable source for additional electricity to achieve net-zero energy.

“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is an important demonstration in how to be responsible stewards of our environment and reduce our footprint on the planet,” said Mern Sibley, President of the Sawyer Free Library’s Board of Trustees. “By converting an inefficient fossil fuel powered building into a class-leading sustainable facility, we have an example and an inspiration for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in our City.”

The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is designed to create a better and healthier City of Gloucester. As a LEED Gold building with enhanced sustainability features, the 2025 Sawyer Free Library is a leading example of actions that can be taken in the designing and operating of a building to protect climate and nature based on design principles that put people first, including sustainability, accessibility, health, and safety.

The project integrates three distinct structures with complete renovations of the Library’s existing 1976 and 1913 buildings and an expansion of the footprint with a new 14,000 sq. ft. addition towards School Street. Common building systems will serve the renovation and addition with advanced sustainability features and enhanced commissioning designed for efficient consumption, generation, and storage of energy and water that will result in environmental benefits for decades to come.

The 2025 Sawyer Free Library features state-of-the-art energy-efficient technologies, including all-electric HVAC systems powered by renewable energy, solar power panels, LED light fixtures, and high-efficiency smart lighting controls. The Library’s sustainability commitments are to reduce energy use intensity (EUI) from 85 to 30 or below, use as much renewable energy as possible, generate a minimum of 30kW solar energy onsite and perform enhanced commissioning to achieve targets post-occupancy.

The buildings will also feature efficient water use fixtures and a rainwater collection and irrigation system to maintain the Library’s native landscaping. These systems will help the Library reach its target of a minimum 30% decrease in overall water usage.

Aiming to reduce single-occupancy vehicle traffic in the city, the 2025 Sawyer Free Library will serve as a bike and E-bike hub for safe and sustainable transportation. It will also offer public Electric Vehicle Level 2 charging stations in the parking lot to be available 24 hours, 7 days a week, to support decarbonization efforts locally and across the Commonwealth.

“The 2025 Sawyer Free Library presents a holistic approach to sustainability. The combination of the building’s sustainability features, its green operations and educational programming, along with its capacity as a physical and social climate response center, present a powerful demonstration of how we can mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Jenny Benedict, Library Director. “Every action we take individually and collectively toward making our environment resilient and sustainable is a step toward a net zero impact future. Together, we can preserve the one planet we have to live on for ourselves and future generations.”

To support the innovative sustainability infrastructure, and systems, the Library’s Green Building Operations Policy will be another vital part of the Library’s commitment to ongoing environmentally sustainable practices. Implementing a wide range of “green” practices will save energy, conserve water, reduce waste, and support healthy work and public spaces.

“Both the building and the Library’s associated educational programming are a model and an inspiration for the entire community and beyond of how we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” stated Sawyer Free Library Capital Projects Chair  Simon Paddock.

Sawyer Free Library’s mission is to be a place of learning, innovation and creativity, to nurture and strengthen the community. Programs at the 2025 Sawyer Free Library will help to foster a climate-literate community through online dashboard displays, demonstrations, and programs for adults and children focused on sustainable research, practices, and hands-on interactive experiences. These will range from lectures and field trips about the values of our local land and ocean ecosystem to workshops on how to change our impact on our environment.

The 2025 Sawyer Free Library is designed to make resource conservation part of the everyday experience while inspiring and educating the community about the importance of environmental stewardship and beauty. The building will exemplify what a 21st-century public library can and should be in terms of sustainability and also architecture, accessibility, use of natural resources and light, wayfinding, lines of sight, air quality, and public safety. It will boast new community spaces, including a 110-seat community room with state-of-the-art science presentation technology, a dedicated room for teens, and a digital maker space with a film production suite and a sound recording studio. Additional features will include a Library History Center, a quiet Reading Room, and a 16-seat Conference Room. The 2025 Sawyer Free Library will be an educational, cultural, civic, and community hub for learning, collaboration, and innovation. With its modern and sustainable design, the Library will provide an inspiring and sustainable environment for library patrons, staff, the community, and beyond.

The Sawyer Free Library Board is planning the groundbreaking for the 2025 Sawyer Free Library this September, with construction expected to take approximately eighteen months. The Library is currently operating in its temporary location at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.

For those interested in learning more about how the 2025 Sawyer Free Library is building a sustainable future or ways to support these efforts, visit www.sawyerfreelibrary.org/sustainability.

New York Times Bestselling Author of Ordinary Grace: Author Talk with William Kent Krueger on 4/27 at 8pm

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library invites you to a riveting hour online with New York Times bestselling author William Kent Krueger! Join us on Thursday, April 27 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. as he discusses his newest book in the Cork O’Connor series Fox Creek and his other works. 

This is a virtual event. Registration is required. Click HERE to register.

Fox Creek follows Cork O’Connor in a race against time to save his wife, a mysterious stranger, and an Ojibwe healer from bloodthirsty mercenaries. The ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux has had a vision of his death. As he walks the Northwoods in solitude, he tries to prepare himself peacefully for the end of his long life. But peace is destined to elude him as hunters fill the woods seeking a woman named Dolores Morriseau, a stranger who had come to the healer for shelter and the gift of his wisdom. Meloux guides this stranger and his great niece, Cork O’Connor’s wife, to safety deep into the Boundary Waters, his home for more than a century. Meanwhile, in Aurora, Cork works feverishly to identify the hunters and the reason for their relentless pursuit, but he has little to go on. He knows only too well that with each passing hour time is running out. But his fiercest enemy in this deadly game of cat and mouse may well be his own deep self-doubt about his ability to save those he loves.

About the Author: Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. 

Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019 and spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list. His last nine novels were all New York Times bestsellers. He’s been married for nearly fifty years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

This is a virtual event. Registration is required. Click HERE to register.

Questions? Contact: moneill@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5562.

Earth Day Celebration with Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus on Saturday, April 22nd!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join the Sawyer Free Library in celebrating Earth Day with Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus! Together we will be planting, gardening, and learning about ways to protect the environment on Saturday, April 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

This interactive event will be held at 70 Middle Street, Trinity Church, which is located right behind the main library.

No registration is needed. Fun for families of children ages 3 and up.  

Questions? Contact: crosso@sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-515-6349.