Director's Update, October 18, 2020
10/18/2020 • 3 years ago
The information on this page may be outdated as it was published 3 years ago.
Dear Patrons,
I want to acknowledge the remarkable achievement of our neighbor, Cambridge resident Louise Glück, for winning this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. The chairman of the Nobel Prize committee, Anders Olsson, noted that Glück’s writing resembles that of Emily Dickinson. He shared an excerpt from “Snowdrops” from her Pulitzer Prize– winning collection, The Wild Iris (1992), which we may appreciate as we head into the colder season:
I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn’t expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring –
afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy
in the raw wind of the new world.
And for all of us who hold Cambridge near and dear, we may linger in the ending of Glück’s 1999 celebrated collection, Vita Nova: “I thought my life was over and my heart was broken. / Then I moved to Cambridge.”
Virtual Family Night with the Children's Writer and Illustrator Bryan Collier
Join us on Monday, October 19, at 6 p.m. for a very special chat about art, storytelling, and making books with the beloved, award-winning children's book writer and illustrator Bryan Collier. Collier is a four-time recipient of the Caldecott Honor Award for the most distinguished American picture book for children and a six-time winner and three-time honor recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award.
Collier’s latest picture book, All Because You Matter (Scholastic, 2020), published this October with the writer Tami Charles, is celebrated as a powerful, visually and emotionally engaging ode to Black and Brown children everywhere. Registration is required. This event is sponsored by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.
Dream Big 2020
The Cambridge Public Library Foundation’s annual Dream Big event, Big Data, Big Problems: Looking to the Past to Understand the Present, will be held virtually on Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m. Join me as I host Jill Lepore, Harvard Professor of American History, and Tracie D. Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association. They will discuss Lepore’s new book, If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future, and how the early work of a little-known company in the 1960s was a precursor to today’s world of Big Data surveillance and advertising psych-ops. Register today!
Augmented Stories: AR for Art Workshop begins this Wednesday
Augmented Stories is a collaborative arts and storytelling program that provides opportunities to share creative work with audiences by using augmented reality (AR) technologies to bring digital content into everyday physical spaces. Facilitated by the developers of Hoverlay, this four-week workshop offers introductory opportunities to learn about AR by creating experiences to address real-world problems.
AR for Art is designed for those interested in art and design. Participants will create lifelike “digital twins” of artwork using AR. You will develop content that aligns with your interests. A final experience, open to the wider community, will showcase your work. This virtual Zoom workshop occurs on Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m. starting on October 21. Registration is required.
Kids’ Books to Go at Boudreau
Stop by the Boudreau Branch (245 Concord Ave.) on Wednesday, October 21, from 12:30-3:30 p.m. to borrow a bag of 3-5 selected books for your kids and teens! The books will be curated by Cambridge Public Library Youth Services Librarians.
Join Us for Story Times
Stay Connected
Best wishes,
Dr. Maria McCauley
Director of Libraries