When a beam-topping ceremony is held Friday for the Sawyer Free Library expansion, the beam in question will be covered with signatures.
The library broke out some Sharpies for a Community Beam Signing event last Thursday through Saturday and invited everyone in the community to leave their mark on the 2025 Sawyer Free Library. The beam was laid out under a tent on the front lawn of the library’s Saunders House at the corner of Middle Street and Dale Avenue.
The beam makes up the last of the steel frame of the library’s new addition along School Street, and is scheduled to be hoisted into place during a ceremony on Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. Due to limited space on the construction site, the area for the ceremony will accommodate speakers and key stakeholders while the public is welcome to witness the event from outside the safety fencing.
The library says the crane on site will remain through next Monday, Feb. 12, to perform the steel work.
The library is temporarily operating out of a downtown location at 21 Main St., and is accessible online.
The renovation and expansion project preserves the library’s original exterior with a redesigned interior. The 14,000-square-foot addition will double the size of the library’s existing footprint. Amenities will include a digital learning lab, a 100-seat community room with updated media presentation equipment, a local history research center, a dedicated teen room, an expanded children’s room with an early learning center for toddlers, study rooms, a 16-seat conference room and more.
The new library will also be built with a number of environmental sustainability features.
More information about the project may be found at sawyerfreelibrary.org.