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Uncover the radical roots of urban gardening with Kate Brown, author of Tiny Gardens Everywhere (2026). The history of gardening in European and North American cities in the 20th century is a story about ordinary people working with each other—and with plants and microbes—to cultivate life in the unlikeliest of places. Using the deluge of nutrients that flow into cities, working class gardeners regenerated wasteland, built the first garden city communities, and engaged in the most productive agriculture in recorded human history. Following the plants and microbes, urban gardeners also built mutual aid societies that advocated for equity, social welfare, and rights—rights not to liberty and the pursuit of happiness (who can eat that?) but to food, fuel, and shelter; to well-being for all. Kate Brown is the Thomas M. Siebel Distinguished Professor in the History of Science at MIT. Her prize-winning books include Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future (2019), Plutopia: Nuclear Families in Atomic Cities and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters (2013), and A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland (2004). Presented in partnership with City of Cambridge Community Garden Program.

Join us for a dance party to get your wiggles out! Play a freeze dance game, shake some shakers, and learn the steps to the Macarena! This program will take place indoors at the O'Connell Branch Library. For more information, please call the library at (617) 349-4019.

Learn the basics of beaded jewelry making and the difference between semi-precious stones and precious stones. Participants will keep all pieces they make. This will be an in-person program at the Central Branch in the Lewis Room. Space is limited to 10 participants. Led by Zangar Freeman.

Join the Central Square Book Group! This month, we're reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Copies are available for pickup at the Branch. Questions? Contact Ruby (rvail@cambridgema.gov).

Join the Central Square Book Group! This month, we're reading The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. Copies will be available for pickup at the Branch. Questions? Contact Theresa (tmitchell@cambridgema.gov).

Dr. Terry will deliver a keynote address celebrating the life and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sing, dance and join the fun with Boston Music Project. Recommended for children ages 0-7 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.

Join us for a walk at Fresh Pond as we explore the wonderful world of bugs! This program is open to all ages, from adults to children and their caregivers. Registration is required. We will meet at the Cambridge Water Department parking lot at the beginning of the event. For more information, contact Michael McGlathery at mmcglathery@cambridgema.gov or call the Boudreau Branch at 617-349-4017.

People of all ages who enjoy children's books can read and discuss together. Food will be provided. In February we will read and discuss Atana and the Firebird by Vivan Zhou. Copies of the book will be available at the Boudreau Branch, Collins Branch and the O'Neill Branch after it re-opens. This book group will meet in person at the O'Neill Branch Library. Please register below.

Join us for a book discussion and hangout each month as we read books that celebrate the LGBTQIA+ experience. All readers age 10-13 welcome! Registration is required. For questions, email hsaxton@cambridgema.gov. This month we're reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Simon and Schuster, 2012). Copies of the book are available at the Central Square Library Children's Desk. Pizza will be provided!