Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/4/2023
CHICOPEE — The library at Fairview Elementary School is now the Ann Marie Liswell Memorial Library, following a dedication ceremony on March 31.
The tribute commemorates Liswell’s many years serving as the school librarian at Fairview.
Nearly 200 people gathered in the school’s reading center as city officials, friends and family shared a few words about Liswell.
Former Fairview Elementary, School Principal Irene Lemieux described Liswell as a “remarkable” educator. “She joined the educational field to make a difference in the life of a child and she succeeded,” said Lemieux. “Her fun, creative and imaginative way to educate her students inspired them to be happy students getting the best education that they could.”
Mayor John Vieau said, “I could not think of a more appropriate way to memorialize and remember her. It truly is devoted educators like Anne Marie who contribute to the success of students, staff and our school district.”
Superintendent Alvin Morton shared, “Her legacy will contribute on through her family and the naming of the library here today.”
Maria Santiago, who now runs the library, recalled the nine years she spent working with Liswell. “Anne Marie’s passion for reading was contagious and I will do my best to carry on that legacy,” she said.
Attendees were encouraged to donate books in honor of Liswell. Santiago thanked everyone for the donations and said every book received will be marked, “donated in memory of Anne Marie Liswell.”
Santiago noted that she has already planned a book fair for next year to celebrate this “amazing tribute.”
At the library’s entrance, Liswell’s son, Colby Liswell, joined by her husband, Bobby Liswell, cut the ribbon to officially declare the library in her name.
Following the ribbon cutting, Bobby Liswell thanked Lemieux for sponsoring this dedication, along with Morton and the School Committee for unanimously voting this in.
He said, “We want to put out a challenge to everybody. If you signed up today [on the sign in sheet] if you come back here and you read for — whether it’s the library or classroom — we will match that with $100 every time someone comes here to read from that list out there. We want to keep this memory alive.”