Campaign for New Jewel of North Shore Goes Public

Gloucester, MA—Sawyer Free 2025 (visit sawyerfree2025.org), a philanthropic capital campaign to fund a comprehensive renovation, modernization and expansion of Gloucester’s public library building, is officially a thing. The planned project will preserve the original exterior and also double the size of the existing library’s footprint with a 15,000-square foot addition.

Sawyer Free 2025 constitutes a once-in-a-lifetime, transformational investment in a vital community resource that will exponentially amplify the library’s ability to deliver critical services and outcomes not only for Gloucester, but for communities across Cape Ann and the North Shore as a place of equity, inclusion, connection, creation, compassion, renewal and advancement.

The design principles of Sawyer Free 2025 are grounded in the human experience and a mission to put people first. The newly renovated and expanded Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library will stand as an exemplar of what a 21st century educational, cultural, civic and community hub can and should be in terms of architecture, accessibility, sustainability, the use of natural resources and light, layouts, lines of sight, air quality and public safety. The interior will comprise three, seamlessly navigable floors featuring an open plan, multimodal wayfinding, state-of-the-science embedded technology, a new atrium entrance and customized acoustical elements.

“The existing building was constructed almost a half-century ago,” said Barry Weiner, a retired attorney and the campaign chair for Sawyer Free 2025. “Not only does the interior space have to be dramatically reimagined, but the space itself needs to be doubled in order to accommodate the kind of foot traffic and use that you now have in the library.”

The project’s total projected cost is $28 million, a sum that includes built-in inflation costs through completion of the project in 2025. The Sawyer Library Foundation, the fundraising arm of the campaign, has already inspired $14.1 million in pledged donations toward fulfilling its $28 million mission. The completion of the new facility will result in a 25-percent increase in annual visitors, a 25-percent increase in the number of public programs offered each month by the library and a 50-percent increase in the number of programs hosted at the library by partner agencies.

“The question is where do you put your resources as a community?” said Eric Mitchell, CEO of Pathways for Children, which provides educational programming, social support services and professional development initiatives for families throughout Essex County. “The answer will tell a community’s tale. A place as rich in intellect and high-concept, socially minded thinkers as Gloucester and a region like Cape Ann should have a library that reflects this community standard. This vision for the new library really reflects the cultural richness of this community and the entire North Shore.”

Gloucesterman Samuel Elwell Sawyer lived in the 1800s, yet he believed something revolutionary. He thought a local public library could be more than a collection of books. He envisioned the city’s library as the beating heart of our community. A transformational gathering space—no membership required. Exactly 150 years after the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library became a public charitable corporation in 1872—which is 23 years before the Boston Public Library opened its Copley Square branch—that heartbeat is stronger than ever.

“Libraries like Sawyer Free Library in Gloucester are invaluable to our communities and they provide so much more than just books,” said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. “The Sawyer Free Library has been an incredible resource to the City of Gloucester for more than a century and … we’re proud to support its work to meet the needs of its residents. The City of Gloucester is lucky to have Sawyer Library.”

FAQs

✓ How do I reach or contact Sawyer Free 2025?

Visit sawyerfree2025.org

Facebook: Sawyer Free 2025
Instagram: Sawyer Free 2025
YouTube: Sawyer Library Foundation 2025

info@sawyerfree2025.org
media@sawyerfree2025.org

Call 978.225.0363 or 978.225.0915

✓ Who put forward the building design?
Oudens Ello Architecture, which won a national AIA/ALA Library Building Award in 2018 for its design on the Eastham Public Library and a 2021 AIA New England Merit Award for its design of the Norwell Public Library.

✓ Who is paying for the Sawyer Free Library renovation and addition?
The project is structured such that no public funds will cover any costs once the campaign is complete. Sawyer Free 2025 will ultimately be fully funded by philanthropic donations set in motion by an integrated media capital campaign under the direction of the Sawyer Library Foundation.

The Sawyer Free Library 2025 campaign employs no full-time paid staff and every member of the Sawyer Library Foundation Board is a volunteer. Campaign marketing costs are a pre-budgeted component of the campaign. Accordingly, 100 percent of donations will go to fund the library renovation and expansion project.

A provisional award of a $9.3 million matching grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners will account for just over one third of the project's total projected cost. Including the MBLC grant, the campaign has already raised $14.1 million in pledged donations.

✓ How Will The Campaign Roll Out
The campaign will employ traditional methods to engage the community and raise awareness via print and digital earned media as well paid media, including television advertising on Comcast cable and streaming platforms, sponsorship spots on WBUR-FM broadcast and streaming channels and other local radio advertising.

Sawyer Free 2025 will also deploy robust, state-of-the-science assets across digital and social media, including an interactive campaign website built by a user-experience designer, text-to-donate functionality and other easy ways to give electronically, SEO-optimized campaign pages on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, SEM-optimized social media ad placement, contests and staged crowdsourced events designed to go viral and targeted email marketing.

Other traditional campaign-awareness tools will include brand-visibility assets (signage, banners, mailers), campaign-awareness community events, a public display of the project and broader outreach made possible by the library’s community partner organizations, including more than 100 North Shore nonprofit and civil service providers, including Wellspring, Pathways for Children, The Open Door, The Cape Ann Museum, the Cape Ann YMCA and the City of Gloucester, among many others.

The principal agency behind the Sawyer Free 2025 integrated media plan and strategic marketing campaign is GloWEST Communications, LLC. Supporting agencies include Simplicity Lab, DGA Productions, Clyde Media Productions, Octocog, Armstrong Brand Consulting and Tracy Davis PR.

✓ Is my donation tax deductible?
The short answer is yes. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

✓ How Do I Give to Sawyer Free 2025?

• Visit sawyerfree2025.org
• Text to donate: Text “325182” to 1-855-575-7888 and select and amount
• Checks to: SF2025, 2 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930 (Pay to the order of: “Sawyer Library Foundation”)
• Volunteer! Reach out if you want to pitch in at the library or with the capital campaign, either in person or virtually. Help your neighbors, serve your community and share your expertise. No matter what kind of volunteer work you do for us, you are contributing in invaluable ways.

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Sawyer Library Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Our Determination Letter issued by the IRS can be viewed at sawyerfree2025.org. SFL2025’s EIN is: 84-2837206.