Nashua is not as big as Manchester, as quaint as Amherst or as cosmopolitan as Boston, but look around our city and you’ll see why people call Nashua home. There are our schools, our shopping, our restaurants, our parks, our location, our music, our art, our sports, our “quality of life,’ and behind it all, many dedicated people – both paid and volunteer – working tirelessly to make our city a better place to live.

Many of the services and opportunities that we take for granted come from the efforts of those who came before us. Take for example the Hunt family, who gave the city $50,000 – a princely sum in 1892 – for the construction of a public library, or the late Joseph Sakey, who arrived in Nashua in 1956 and served the city as library director from 1959-1971. A tireless champion of education, the arts, and the free expression of ideas, Joe had an impact on the community far beyond the library, serving on more than a dozen boards, and as a founding member of the Nashua Choral Society, Nashua Symphony Association, the Arts & Science Center, and the Gateway Family Planning Association. Joe was instrumental in bringing a new downtown library – our present facility on Court Street – from dream to fruition before he left Nashua to become director of the Cambridge (MA) Public Library. He also insisted that the former library, now the Hunt Memorial Building, be protected, preserved, and used by future Nashuans. Joe, who was well known for his "foresight, persistence and patience in the face of repeated discouragements and setbacks" according to the 1971 new library dedication program, was successful in both these endeavors.

This is why family, friends, and admirers of Joe Sakey will meet at the Hunt Building on Library Hill this evening from 5 to 7 to celebrate Joe’s life and unveil two bronze plaques: one honoring Joe and the librarians who preceded him, and the other detailing the history of the historic Hunt Building. A few of this evening’s attendees have never met Joe, who died in 2004, but can’t help to admire him for his dedication to the free exchange of ideas and to the cultural and intellectual enrichment of his adopted community.

The next time you visit the Hunt Building, stop for a moment in the main lobby to read the plaque and thank Joe for all his efforts on our behalf.