Laura M. Sawyer Papers

Laura M. Sawyer began her work at Perkins School for the Blind as an assistant in the library between 1898 and 1903. She served as librarian with Sarah E. Lane from 1903 until Lane retired in 1911. Sawyer continued as the Librarian until her death in 1925.

During her time at Perkins, she worked with the Harvard extension courses with Edward E. Allen. Fish wrote that Sawyer became “Allen’s right hand in carrying on of the course and  a tower of strength to the many who came to draw upon her limitless fund of information and upon her unwearied patience in assisting them” (Fish, 52). She worked with and served both pupils at Perkins and people throughout New England as she advanced accessibility of library materials. She was an advocate of creating a national lending program and was the head of the American Library Association advocacy committee with the American Foundation for the Blind. As part of her work, she created a catalog of the books in the Perkins Library that expanded to lists of embossed accessions, and other braille books that were available for people who were blind. She also curated annual lists of magazine articles about the blind for Outlook for the Blind. With her focus on advancements and the circulation of embossed materials, Sawyer was instrumental in the founding and creation of the library at Perkins as it currently exists.

Following Allen’s trip to Europe, Sawyer communicated with Alexander Mell (of Vienna) to establish the Blindiana collection at Perkins (Fish, 51). She also taught library classes at Simmons College about the history of Perkins, the Perkins Library, and library services for the blind.