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NEW BEDFORD — Fernanda Teixeira quietly picked up a mystery from the Portuguese section of the Casa da Saudade library on Monday afternoon. She flipped through its pages and her memories of the library, which she’s been coming to since its opening in 1971.
“I hope this place never comes to an end,” the 78-year old said in Portuguese. She told The Light she immigrated to New Bedford from the Azorean island of Faial and never learned English. But throughout the difficulties of life as an immigrant, she always found a safe landing spot at the library.
“It’s about comfort for me,” she said. “Books have so much to teach people and this environment is so congenial.”
Just then, she learned of the announcement Friday by Mayor Jon Mitchell of his intentions to close the library as part of austerity measures enacted in response to City Council budget cuts. Her mouth immediately opened in shock for a moment.
“I don’t like that at all,” she said. “I’m going to lose so much.”
The city established Casa da Saudade at a small storefront on Rivet Street in 1971 as the only Portuguese-language centered public library in the U.S. — a title it still holds. In 1975, it moved to its current location at the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, downstairs from the Immigrants’ Assistance Center offices. The library’s collection includes 34,000 volumes of literature and 92 newspaper subscriptions as well as magazines, audiovisual media, and other items in Portuguese, Kriolu, and English.
For many area Portuguese and Cabo Verdeans, it is a symbol of their presence and impact on New Bedford.
“We have to keep it going,” said Paulina Arruda, vice president of 97.3FM WJFD, the nation’s largest Portuguese-language radio station, based out of Howland Place on Orchard Street. “We’re talking about a whole building, a whole space, dedicated to our language.”
Calls for library cuts from council members
The move came after several City Council members had vocally supported closing at least one library branch in recent months.
“The city needs to look into reducing our footprint in the number of city-owned buildings,” said At-Large Councilor Linda Morad during a council meeting in March. “The expenses are too high. The overall budget is too high.”
City Councilor Maria Giesta joined Morad in those calls and specifically cited the Lawler Library, near Buttonwood Park, which this past winter experienced frigid temperatures because its heater was broken.
“The library got so cold we could’ve closed for OSHA violations,” said Olivia Melo, the director of New Bedford’s public libraries, in March. “We kept open because librarians knew that patrons would be coming in.”
At the time, the mayor’s administration didn’t offer much pushback. Chief Operating Officer Christina Connelly said that closing a library branch was “a discussion worth having as a whole community.”
The library budget received $114,215 worth of cuts during the City Council’s most recent “cut night,” stripping away money that the mayor had proposed for library salaries and service purchases.
Last week, Mitchell blamed the closure on the council’s cuts, saying, “I don’t want to close any libraries, but something has got to give.”
The mayor’s office said Friday that the Casa da Saudade branch’s staff and its special collection of materials in Portuguese and Cabo Verdean Kriuolo will move into other library locations.
Immediate pushback
The decision caused immediate concern from sectors of the Portuguese-speaking community. On Monday, State Rep. António F.D. Cabral, a long-time Democratic representative for the city’s South End and native of the Azorean island of Pico, condemned the closure in a statement released Monday. The library falls in his district.
“Casa da Saudade is more than a branch library. It is a cultural institution,” Rep. Cabral said in his statement. “The library is a symbol of New Bedford’s deep Portuguese roots, and [is] a bridge between cultures. We should be proud of Casa da Saudade because there is nothing like it across the entire country.”
Cabral called on the mayor and the City Council to reverse the decision to close the branch.
“I understand the decisions that both the Mayor and the City Council must make with tight budget considerations,” he continued. “However, the closure of Casa da Saudade is not simply a budgetary line item — it is a blow to one of the most culturally rich and historically important institutions in our community.
“I believe there are other options available besides closure, and that is what we expect.”
City Council President Shane Burgo said in a post on Facebook that he vehemently opposes the library’s closure and placed the decision squarely on Mitchell’s shoulders.
“The Mayor’s decision to close Casa da Saudade is entirely unnecessary,” he said. “No library closures are warranted.
“None of our cuts justify that and the public deserves the truth.”
The Wilks and Francis J. Lawler branch libraries would also be impacted with reduced hours.
In a statement Tuesday, the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library said it stands “wholeheartedly with the staff and patrons of Casa da Saudade, Wilks and Lawler libraries. The decision will have a detrimental effect on our city and ultimately make New Bedford a less welcoming place for those requiring the services of the public library.
“The Friends believe that the decision to close Casa da Saudade would be a shame for us all but most especially the Portuguese-speaking population of the city, including our Azorean, Cape Verdean and Brazilian populations, who need support now more than ever.”
‘A nossa terra’
Arruda picked up the phone at the WJFD radio station immediately when it rang around 1:30 p.m. Monday.
“It’s Casa da Saudade,” she told the person on the other end in Portuguese. “Casa da Saudade, the library, is going to close.”
Arruda said the station had been fielding such inquiries since Mitchell’s announcement. They’ve done their best to clear up confusion around whether the closure would also impact the Immigrants’ Assistance Center, which it won’t.
“The community is not happy,” she told The Light. “It’s not just a library but a center for the [Portuguese-speaking] community.”
Jorge Morais, general manager at WJFD, told The Light that he saw the announcement as a political move by the mayor.
“This could be a real alarm for the present and a warning to think about the future,” he said in Portuguese. “We need police. We need firefighters. We need schools, and we need libraries.”
Morais said now would be the moment to act if the community really wants to keep the library open.
“I hope there’s some kind of agreement to keep Casa da Saudade open,” he said. “Once you lose something, you almost never get it back.”
Arruda noted that this may be a good moment for the community to activate itself politically, contrary to historical habit she conjectured Portuguese-people picked up after decades of dictatorship under the Estado Novo regime in the 20th century.
“Many Portuguese people grew up under that system and learned to keep quiet,” she said. “But now the community needs to start learning how to fight for what it wants.
“I’m talking politically, socially, at all levels,” she continued. “The community needs to think about advocating for ourselves.”
Francisco Resendes, editor of The Portuguese Times, also based in Howland Place, said now is the time to make a move.
“I see here an excellent opportunity to show our strength,” he said in Portuguese. “Now is when we’ll see how the community reacts and what weight it carries.”
But for Fernanda Teixeira, the patron browsing through Casa da Saudade’s books, the fight is about more than a building. It’s about a home.
“This library is very important,” she said. “É como se fosse a nossa terra.”
It’s almost as if it were our country.
Email Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org. Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org.
Editor’s note: This story was modified on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, to add a statement from the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library.
Time for new leadership in the Mayor’s Office. There is no one to blame but Mayor Mitchell. I challenge the New Bedford Light and all their readers to look back at the previous administrations. No other mayor in our city’s history has expanded city government and increased spending like Mayor Mitchell. The facts show for over ten years (from the 2012 Budget of $247.3 Million Dollars to the present approved budget of $550.8 Million Dollars) the Mitchell Administration expanded city government and doubled the city’s budget by a staggering $303.5 Million Dollars. If the mayor had stopped the expansion of city government, been more financially responsible, and worked on building our tax base by bringing in private industry, the library would not be closing.
Assuming the budget is as high as you say it is, why does the budget have to be balanced by shutting libraries and cultural institutions? It’s far more costly to the taxpayer to have an uneducated populace. Places like Casa da Saudade contribute value to the community in an unquantifiable way.
RC the Mayor made this poor choice, he could have shut down one of many departments and anyone of the 90 plus properties he has amassed during his administration (the mayor could have closed the Quest Center it has never turned a profit, operates in the red, and continues to drain city tax dollars). The mayor chose the library no one else.
Jeff what about inflation? What cost a $1 in 2012 costs $1.40 today.
Inflation just another reason to show some spending restraint, but the mayor decided to keep spending and expanding city government by a staggering $303.5 Million and now we are in trouble. 100% Failed Financial Leadership.
Well said! Jeff for Mayor, Jeff for Mayor.
It is not only the Mayor that needs a change also all the city counselors needs a full renovation they have been there to long and some of them don’t even speak to the Mayor.
Yes you are 100% correct, the senior city councilors (Abreu, Carney, Giesta, Gomes, Lopes, and Morad) were all along for the ride when the Mayor’s Budgets have been approved, and are just as responsible for allowing the city budget to increase by a staggering $303.5 Million Dollars. New Bedford deserves better and 100% we new leadership in the Mayor;s Office and on the City Council.
None of these cuts would have taken place if this Mayor had realized 15 + years ago that you can’t spend money that exceeds our revenue sources and not let our operating budget get out of control. But he did. And blame not all city councilors but most, for all those years they let his budget grow. SHAMEFUL.
I read my library books online via the Sails network.
Are the Portuguese books available through the internet? If not, the branch should be kept open.
My family and I have been coming to NB since the 90’s from Arizona. Despite the budget, something great has been happening to NB. It’s a heck of a lot nicer and the crime rate has come down significantly. Also, we haven’t seen graffiti!! There does need to be more private business lured to the area. Taking advantage of the new train to Boston is a great opportunity to bring new people and businesses.
Population growth and more private investment is the key forward to prosperity in NB. NB aesthetically is beautiful. Bring the people.
New Bedford Mayor voted to close the only Portuguese Public Library in the United States (Casa de Saudade). This has been a blow to the over 40,000 immigrants of either Portugal or the Cape Verde Islands that live in New Bedford, and this loss would really hurt this culturally-rich community. And it doesn’t say much about the City of New Bedford.
This comment is correct, the Mayor had a choice of over 90 Building that the city now owns and runs to close. How about closing the Quest Center and selling the building (the Quest Center has never turned a profit and has operated in the red, and drained city tax dollars). This Mayor is responsible for running this city and the facts show his vision of New Bedford has not worked, for over 10 years. from 2012 budget of $247.3 Million Dollars to the present approved budget of $550.8 Million Dollars the Mitchell Administration has expanded city government and doubled the city’s budget by a staggering $303.5 Million Dollars. Just imagine if the Mitchell Administration would have shown some restraint reduced spending, stopped expanding city government, and the budget was only increased by $250 Million Dollars, the city would not be in this trouble today. 100% it is time for new leadership in the Mayor’s office.
Well, when it comes time to vote, show then. Bye, bye!
Back in the early 80’s my guy friend went there to learn English. Isn’t that what we need. English is the universal language at least to most immigrants. We want them to learn English, but you are taking that away. UNfreakenBelievable!