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Cambridge Cooks, Park Sounds, Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, and More!

Kids in 6th, 7th and 8th grade can come to the Library to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Twilight series! We will watch highlights from the movies, make fan art and celebrate sparkly vampires. Snacks provided. No registration necessary.

The Second Annual Spelling Bee with take place on Thursday, June 20 at the Main Library.

You’re invited to our July Brewery Book Club, where Lamplighter and the Cambridge Public Library team up to highlight contemporary works from marginalized voices while having a beer. We meet at Lamplighter Brewing Co., 284 Broadway, in the back taproom. This month we’ll read Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor. Copies of the book are available at the Main Library Q&A Desk. The e-book and digital audiobook can be borrowed through the Libby app. We’ll gather in the Lamplighter back taproom to discuss the book, what we learned from it, what we found ourselves touched by, and all other thoughts. No registration required. More information from Lamplighter here.

Join us for a lively discussion of a great book in person at the Main Library! Snacks will be provided. For ages 7-10 and a parent or caregiver. This month's book is Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz. When a diamond goes missing from the Louvre, it is up to nine-year-old Julieta to identify the thief, exonerate her father, and return home to Boston before her baby brother is born. Includes glossary of French and Spanish words and notes about the Regent Diamond, Athena, and works of art mentioned in the book. Both caregiver and child should read the book before the discussion to participate. Registration is required — only one registration is needed per family. To check-out a copy of the book, stop by the Children’s Room after you've registered. If we run out of books at the desk, you can place a hold on the book by clicking on the book title in the paragraph above. For questions about parent/child book group, please email Meagan: malbright@cambridgema.gov

Let’s take a look at the events of the 1630s when speculators drove up the prices of tulip bulbs to dizzying heights. The development of Dutch flower painting and the phenomenon known as “tulipmania” share the same root causes in 17th century Netherlands; that is, an interest in objects of great appeal and rarity, whether just for their beauty or their scientific notoriety. But what was really happening and has it been overblown in history? We will discover where the practice of flower painting began for the Dutch, in response to the value of live flowers; a practice of painting beautiful still lives that continues today.

Join the Cambridge Public Library for the 51st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture with Dr. Brandon M. Terry. Dr. Terry is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and Co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He is the author of Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement and is coeditor, with Tommie Shelby, of To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and editor of Fifty Years Since MLK. Registration is required.

March Selection: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. This book group will meet virtually and in person at the Boudreau Branch. We will discuss current and classic mystery titles. Please register below if you would like to attend via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants one hour before the event. How to get the book: Copies of the print book will be set aside at the Boudreau Branch (245 Concord Ave; current hours). Copies of the ebook are available through the Libby app. Copies of the audiobook are available through Hoopla. For more information, call 617-349-4017 or email Liz Danner at edanner@cambridgema.gov.

Come celebrate the end of the school year in the library’s Lewis Room. Play games on our Nintendo Switch, play board games, color, do a puzzle, and more!

The Cambridge Public Library will welcome Professor Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, for the 49th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote speech.