Family, friends, and community members gathered Saturday in Nubian Square to celebrate the renaming of a Roxbury library branch in honor of Sarah-Ann Shaw, Boston’s first Black female television reporter. The ceremony drew more than 100 attendees who witnessed the unveiling of the new Shaw-Roxbury Branch Library sign.

Mayor Michelle Wu addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of recognizing Shaw’s contributions to the city and ensuring that future generations understand the legacy of those who came before them. “She loved little-told stories that uncovered a chapter of Black history,” Wu said. “She loved unexpected stories that opened people’s eyes to the world around her.”

Shaw worked at WBZ-TV from 1969 until 2000, focusing on issues often overlooked by other media outlets. Her reporting covered significant events such as Boston’s school busing crisis, the women’s rights movement, and housing hearings in Dorchester. A lifelong Roxbury resident, Shaw passed away in 2024 at the age of 90.

The library branch, previously named after Thomas Dudley, a 17th-century governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony with familial ties to the slave trade, was renamed the Roxbury Branch in 2020. The call to rename the library in honor of Shaw came from a community petition submitted in 2025.

David Leonard, president of the Boston Public Library, spoke at the ceremony, highlighting Shaw’s dedication to the institution and the community. “She was a strong advocate for the library and a voice in its previous renovation,” Leonard said. “She could be equally warm and welcoming and connecting, but also would leave you in no uncertain terms about what she expected you to do for the community.”

Longtime neighbor and pastor The Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, founder of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, reflected on Shaw’s close ties to the library and her modest nature. “The library was far more than the place where she picked up books. She was here all the time,” White-Hammond said. She recalled shared memories of Shaw correcting them kindly when they were caught listening to a Walkman in the library, an activity discouraged at the time.

White-Hammond noted that Shaw would likely be uncomfortable if the renaming were merely symbolic. “But as long as we receive her name on the building and recognize that as an opportunity to continue that legacy, I think she’d be really proud,” she added.