Live at the Library: Percussion workshop with Júlio Santos (O'Neill)
Children will explore a mixture of instruments and rhythms for creative and fun musical experiments through this World Music/Percussion workshop!
Registration is required. This program is recommended for children ages 4 and up.
Funding for Vacation Week Programming: Live at the Library has been generously provided by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.
Live at the Library: Lunar New Year Family Concert (Main)
Join master musician Shaw Pong Liu in an interactive, educational and bilingual (English and Mandarin) music program welcoming the Year of the Horse. Shaw Pong will play her Western violin and her Chinese erhu, play music about horses, and invite a group sing-along. This program is recommended for children ages 5 and up and their caregivers.
CPL PARK SOUNDS 2025: Juneteenth Celebration with the Dave Macklin Band
The Library celebrates Juneteenth with the Dave Macklin Band as they pay tribute to the musical contributions of Black artists.
PARK SOUNDS 2025 brings free outdoor musical performances featuring local artists to the front lawn of the Cambridge Public Library Main Branch. These events are all-ages. Bring a chair, food, and loved ones to celebrate the summer! Funding is provided by the CPL Foundation.
Live at the Library: Lindsay and Her Puppet Pals (Collins)
Meet a cast of larger-than-life, hand-crafted puppet characters in this funny and interactive variety show. Sing, dance and participate in a fast-paced series of stories that explore feelings, kindness and bravery. Recommended for children ages 3-8 and their caregivers.
Funding for Vacation Week Programming: Live at the Library has been generously provided by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.
From Revolution to Remembrance: Memory of the American Revolution (Main/Virtual)
To mark the 250th anniversaries of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, a coalition of local non-profits and government agencies will present Washington in American Memory, a seven-part speaker series.
Explore how Americans have remembered, reinterpreted, and reshaped the meaning of the American Revolution from 1776 to today, featuring:
Michael Hattem, author of Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution and Associate Director of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
Nikki Stewart, Executive Director of Old North Illuminated
Tween Book Group with Ben Guterson (Main Library)
Join us in a lively discussion once a month on books tailored to the 10-12 age range. This month we'll be reading World Famous Nine by Ben Guterson. Read the book and speak with the author directly! Snacks and food provided. Register online to ensure your spot. Please call 617-349-4038 for more information.
CANCELLED: Barry Schneier Presents: The Song is Still Being Written (Main)
Internationally renowned photographer Barry Schneier captures Boston's unique and impacting folk music scene in his new book The Song is Still Being Written, released in September 2024. The book is a collection of photos and narratives capturing stories of singer-songwriters, past, present, and future who have made the Boston/Cambridge area their home for artistic development and specifically from those who have graced one of the most heralded performance spaces in folk history, Harvard Square's Passim (originally Club 47). The program includes a performance by Kemp Harris, one of the artists profiled in the book. Schneier will be in conversation with James Sullivan, arts and culture correspondent for the Boston Globe.
Barry Schneier is an internationally recognized photographer who has been immersed in the music scene since the mid-1970s. His work has been exhibited in multiple shows and is in the permanent collection of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, the Folk Americana-Roots Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Summer Reading: Yo-Yo Show IN THE PEABODY SCHOOL GYM (O'Neill)
Due to the weather, this program will happen inside the Peabody School gym. Please enter the gym through Door 8 on Haskell St.
Join us for a high energy comedy yo-yo show. For children of all ages and their caregivers.
Funding for Summer Reading has been generously provided by the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Cambridge Public Library and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
[CANCELED] Summer Reading: BioDesign with the Rhode Island Computer Museum (Main)
This event is canceled. We have rescheduled the program for Saturday, August 15 (link).
Delve into the wonders of the natural world. Attendees will learn about different types of animal homes and use them to inspire their own creation. Recommended for ages 8-13. This program can accommodate 12 people. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis on the day of the program. The entire party must be present to receive a ticket. This program starts promptly. Unclaimed seats will be offered to someone waiting. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Please call 617-349-4038 for more information.
Funding for Summer Reading has been generously provided by the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Cambridge Public Library and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
Free Family Concert: Radius Ensemble presents Peter and the Wolf (Main)
Join us for a relaxed Saturday morning concert with Radius Ensemble! The concert, geared toward preschool children but appropriate for all ages, features a delightful abridged version of Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf (at the end of which the wolf, instead of meeting his demise, is taken to the zoo), plus also other silly songs about animals, as well as a show-and-tell of the instruments of the woodwind family. For the final piece of this 45-minute program, children are invited to play along on hand percussion instruments such as tambourines and claves, and each child receives a free colorful shaker to take home.
Recommended for children ages 3 to 5 years with caregiver. This program can accommodate 130 people. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis on the day of the program. The entire party must be present to receive a ticket. This program starts promptly, and any unclaimed seats will be offered to someone waiting. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Please call 617-349-4038 for more information.