Amy Sadkin is retiring as director of Natick’s Bacon Free Library, a job she has held since a month before the COVID-19 shutdown. While that was a tough time to start, she was able to rise to the challenge of serving people wherever they were, and some of the innovations from that period benefit patrons even now.
“It was a time of innovation, pivoting and prioritizing what public libraries are all about; focusing on how to safely serve the public (who very much needed us) while keeping staff safe. While it was a scary and uncertain time for everyone, some good things did come out of it,” Sadkin says.
The library started its curbside pickups, which continue to this day, and helped people transition to online programming that remains popular.
“We found out how important we were to the public in providing books to families when their children were at home and to people of all ages who were looking for stories in order to escape from the worries of the world,” says Sadkin, who earlier in her career worked at libraries in Framingham, Lunenburg, Newbury, and Vermont.
Natick is seeking to hire a new Bacon Free Library director.
Sadkin is taking an early retirement to spend more time traveling with her partner, John, as well as gardening, baking sourdough bread, and visiting her family, which is spread across the country.
She expects to look for a very part-time job closer to home to keep her busy in the next few years. “It will be challenging to go ‘cold turkey’ with retirement. I think the gradual approach will work best for me,” she says.
Sadkin says she will miss the three times weekly pre-school story times at Bacon. “I just love starting off the day seeing the little ones dancing, singing and playing. It has been a highlight to see them grow up through the years to become school age,” she says.
She’ll also miss Bacon Free’s dedicated staff.
While Sadkin loves seeing Bacon Free regulars, she also enjoys seeing the faces of people who have never visited before “light up with delight when they enter the building.”
Renovations outside and inside the Bacon Free Library should also delight patrons in the months and years to come. Sadkin cited the town’s approval of Community Preservation Act funds to restore the historical fence surrounding the property. She’s hopeful that the Trustees of the Bacon Free Library also will be successful in efforts to renovate the building’s second floor.
“The Bacon is such a beautiful building and located in such a lovely location. It’s wonderful to see the building and grounds being maintained for the future. It is truly a special place,” she says.
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We think of books when we think about libraries, but there are just as important, the people who make our libraries welcoming places for adults and children. Thank you!