Fall is in full swing and there is so much happening at the Foundation! Our perennial favorite speaker series starts on Tuesday, with three more programs scheduled in November, January, and April. Read more below and stay tuned for the future dates.

The Foundation is thrilled to welcome two new Board members: Sarah Thompson and Sheila Pundit. Sarah is spearheading and speaking at our upcoming Science of Reading program, and Sheila has been an invaluable part of our gala event committee. These two remarkable volunteers are incredible additions to our Board!

Next time you head to the Library, be sure to check out the newly cleaned Civil War Statue on the front lawn of the Library, thanks to the support of the Bradshaw Family. 

Follow the Foundation on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates!

Be Bold Speaker Series:

Parenting Through the Years

"The Science of Reading"

Tuesday, October 3, 7pm

Join us for our first Be Bold program this fall on Tuesday, October 3 at 7pm! This presentation on "The Science of Reading" kicks off our fall/winter speaker series focused on parenting through the years.

This program will focus on how young children learn to read and write and what parents should know about this exciting time. The presentation will include a short documentary, followed by a panel discussion with reading specialists and Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) representatives. The community conversation will highlight several topics, including developing early literacy skills, the science behind reading instruction, and SPS’ approach to teaching reading and writing. As part of this, we'll introduce the Library's new collection of decodable books that are designed to support developing readers. The event will conclude with a Q&A.

*This program is geared towards parents/caregivers with children who are pre-readers as well as those who have already started their literacy journey.

Sponsored by Alta Oxbow

Coming up!



"Navigating Your Family’s Future:

Estate and Financial Planning Tips for Parents"

Dive into what you need to know about estate and financial planning to best support your family. From guardianship and trust planning to saving for college, building credit for your child, protecting your child from identity theft, and family liability protection, Erica Endyke from 20West Legal and Lee McGowan from Monument Group Wealth Advisors will share their perspective and cover a checklist of essentials to protect your family and finances through various ages and stages. If you’ve been procrastinating, now’s the time to get your plans in order! The event will include a Q&A.

Sponsored by Elise Siebert, Realtor, Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty

Goodnow Book Nook

Fall Book Sale

Save the Date: Fall Book Sale

November 2–4 in the Community Room

*Donations, including books in good condition and DVDs, are accepted at the circulation desk in the Library.

Shop to Support the Library

The Book Nook just added another way to buy books and support the Goodnow Library at the same time. You can now purchase new books through bookshop.org, an amazing website with a huge selection of books in many genres.

Head over to bookshop.org, click on "Choose a Bookstore," type in Goodnow Book Nook (or put in 01776 and it will pop up), and start shopping! Every time you buy a book, the profits go to the Goodnow Library. The Book Nook is continuing to offer used books for sale in the Library, online, and at the two in-person book sales (March and November).

Welcome New Foundation Board Members!

Sarah Thompson & Sheila Pundit

Sarah Thompson is a literacy consultant and interventionist currently working in private practice. Her work focuses on supporting students, parents, and schools to ensure all children become skilled readers. She has worked in the past as an elementary school teacher, school librarian, and learning specialist. She is a certified Orton-Gillingham Associate and is also trained in a variety of structured linguistic literacy approaches. Sarah holds a B.A. from Boston College and a M.Ed. from Harvard University. She grew up in Sudbury and moved back in 2018 with her spouse and three young boys, all of whom are avid patrons of the Goodnow Library.

Sheila Pundit has been a dedicated patron of Goodnow Library since she moved to Sudbury in 1981. She grew up in Sudbury and moved back in 2016 to raise her three children. Her prior work experience includes serving as a program coordinator for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children, teacher and administrator in a K–8 school in Hawaii, curriculum designer for the Writers' Express and Amplify, and executive director of Summer Ink, a nonprofit organization that provides unique creative writing experiences for middle school students. Sheila is honored to be part of Sudbury's Concierge Real Estate team and enjoys helping people with all types of real estate purchases and sales. She received her B.A. in environmental studies from Colorado College.

Museum Pass of the Month:

USS Constitution

The museum, a part of the Boston National Historical Park, is located in the Charlestown Navy Yard near the ship USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) at the end of Boston’s Freedom Trail. The museum provides a detailed look at the history of the ship, information about the war of 1812, and the battle between the ship and HMS Java. Stories are told through interactive exhibits, unique artifacts, archival records, and artwork. The museum also includes a research library which houses a strong collection of manuscripts, books, artifacts, and microfilm of primary source material. The ship itself is maintained by the U.S. Navy, and may be visited free of charge on certain days.

The Goodnow Library Foundation funds the museum pass program at the library, which provides discounted rates at many local museums and attractions in the region. Passes can be reserved up to eight weeks before the date of use.

The USS Constitution pass allows free admission for up to nine people per day. Children 6 and under are free.

Civil War Statue

Since 2013, the Foundation has cared for the Civil War Statue on the front lawn of the Library. After initially restoring the statue and providing new landscaping, signage, and lighting, the Foundation now cleans and maintains it on an annual basis.

Sincere thanks to John Bradshaw, Jr. (“Jay”) of Belgrade, Maine, who continues to honor the legacy of his late father, John R. Bradshaw (“Jack”) (1930–2020), of Nelson, New Hampshire, by ensuring the maintenance of Goodnow’s Civil War Statue in perpetuity.

The senior John Bradshaw was born in Framingham and educated in the Sudbury schools before serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and attending Northeastern University. In Sudbury, he worked with his father in the family store, for the Sudbury Water District, and for the Sudbury Fire Department.

Bradshaw donated funds to the Goodnow Library Foundation “for the purpose of establishing a permanent endowment to maintain the Civil War Statue donated by [his] great grandfather, Samuel B. Rogers, which was designed and built by Badger Bros., Quincy, Massachusetts, consisting of a bronze life-size figure of a Union Soldier (the so-called “Federal Infantryman” as described in the dedication pamphlet dated May 30, 1897) … located on the premises of Goodnow Library.”

To learn more about this monument, please visit its page on the Massachusetts Civil War Monument Project website.

Get to Know the Library Staff

Meet Karen Tobin, assistant director and art exhibits coordinator at the Goodnow Library!

I started working in libraries in 1974 as a teenager, and clearly, I’ve stuck around! I love what I do! When I was a child, my favorite activity on a summer day was to walk to my local public library. I would check out the four books that we were allowed back then, and walk home. I would usually finish one book on the way home, the rest before lunch, and then go back for more in the afternoon.

I came to Goodnow 18 years ago, in August of 2005. People are often surprised that they can get their passports processed here, that they can borrow a wide variety of items from the Library of Things, and that they can learn and do a variety of crafts and other projects in the Sara Sherman NOW Lab. We’re not just books!

Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Always and forever.

Currently reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.

Coming up: We’ll be celebrating Banned Books Week (October 1–7) with a Community fREADom Board, where patrons can tell us what the freedom to read means to them.

Check out the calendar of Library events.

Sponsor Spotlight

Middlesex Savings Bank

Founded in 1835 in Concord, MA, Middlesex Savings Bank is now one of the largest mutually owned banks in the country with more than 30 branches. Unlike many other banks, they don’t have shareholders to answer to, or stock prices to worry about. So they can always put their customers first with better rates, more personalized service, continuous support of the community, and giving back in ways that help everyone live better (local nonprofits, community-based organizations, and even high school students who need help paying for college). The Sudbury branch is located on Boston Post Road. Learn more: middlesexbank.com.

Thanks for supporting the businesses that support the Goodnow Library Foundation!

Thanks to our 2023 Business Sponsors

20West Legal

AchieveCoach College Consulting

Blodgett Consulting LLC

Child Therapy Boston

Jeffrey Dietz, MD & New England Hand Associates

HarborOne Mortgage

H. Ivan Orup, Jr. DMD, MMSc

Pure Solutions

Dana Roth Educational Consulting

Starz Salon

Sudbury Orthodontics

Sudbury Pharmacy

Sustainable Sudbury

Target Painting

Do you have a Donor Advised Fund (DAF)? Please consider making a grant through your DAF to help us continue our mission to the support the Goodnow Library.