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Cambridge Public Health Department will soon be offering flu and COVID-19 vaccines, as available, for all eligible residents. Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine with rare exceptions. Vaccination is recommended for all who are eligible because it can reduce flu illnesses, visits to doctors’ offices, and missed work and school due to flu. It can also make symptoms less severe and reduce flu-related hospitalizations and deaths. A flu vaccine is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of serious complications from influenza.

Children and families are invited to meet Jerry Craft, award-winning and best-selling graphic novelist of the "New Kid" series. Craft will talk about his work, answer questions from the audience and sign books. Porter Square Books will have books available for sale. This event takes place in the Lecture Hall (L2) with limited overflow seating in the Community Room. Recommended for ages 8 and up. About the Lecture The annual lecture is an initiative sponsored by the Cambridge Public Library, the Curious George Fund and the Cambridge Public Library Foundation. The series aims to bring the community together to celebrate outstanding and engaging books for young readers. About the Author Jerry Craft is The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid, Class Act, and School Trip. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020), the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, and now travels the world telling kids and their families about the importance of reading.

Celebrate Earth Day at the Central Square Branch of the Cambridge Public Library! Come decorate a terracotta pot or recycled planter, then plant a seed in your new pot to take home to watch grow. All seeds and supplies will be provided. Registration encouraged. The City of Cambridge does not discriminate, including on the basis of disability. We may provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to people with disabilities. For more information contact us at library@cambridgema.gov, 617-349-4032 (voice), or via relay at 711.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Dr. Stephen Greenblatt—Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, general editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, and the author of fourteen books including The Swerve, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award—for a discussion of his new book Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival. He will be joined in conversation by Neel Mukherjee—author of four novels, including The Lives of Others, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Registration is required.

Join the Cambridge Public Library for a screening of The Next Dream, an independent documentary about more than one million Temporary Protected Status (TPS) families across the U.S., who are at risk of deportation and family separation. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with members of the National TPS Alliance and the film's producers. Come and meet members of the TPS families, learn about their struggles, and discuss how we may support our neighbors across the country. To learn more about this project, please click here. Registration is encouraged, but not required.

Join us for an afternoon of great poetry and music, featuring a quintet of acclaimed poets: Robert Carr - winner of the 2024 Rane Arroyo chapbook prize and author of three full length collections; Patrick Donnelly - program director of The Frost Place; Matt Donovan - Director, The Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College; Richard Michelson - former Poet Laureate, Northampton, MA & recipient of a National Jewish Book Award; Dzvinia Orlowsky - award-winning poet & translator and a founding editor of Four Way Books; plus music by tenor saxophonist Jay Hoffman. This event is cosponsored by Cambridge Public Library. Registration is required.

Join the Cambridge Public Library in celebrating Native American Heritage Month by welcoming Morgan Talty, author of the award-winning story collection, Night of the Living Rez, as well as the novel, Fire Exit, published just last summer. Fire Exit—which Booklist called "tender and heartbreaking" in a starred review—is a novel about family secrets and how they inform the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and where we live. After reading from his work, Talty will sit in conversation with Nina MacLaughlin, author or Winter Solstice, followed by a short audience Q&A and book signing. Registration is required.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Peter Guralnick—Grammy Award-winner for his liner notes for Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, and prize-winning author of the two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love—for a discussion of his new book The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World. He will be joined in conversation by Peter Wolf—Boston-based rock ’n’ roll legend and former front man of the legendary J. Geils Band. Registration is required.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced that Massachusetts will reopen some outdoor Phase 4, Step 2 industries effective May 10th and put plans in place for further reopening on May 29th and August 1st. The Administration continues to take steps to reopen the Commonwealth's economy with public health metrics continuing to trend in a positive direction. This includes drops in average daily COVID cases and hospitalizations. Massachusetts remains first in the nation for first vaccine doses and total doses administered per capita, among states with more than 5 million people. The Administration will also relax the Face Coverings Order for some outdoor settings, effective April 30th.

The City of Cambridge 911 Clinician is a unique public safety position, as they work directly inside the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) alongside Emergency Telecommunications Dispatchers (ETD). The 911 Clinician may be utilized by dispatchers during emergencies for purposes of crisis intervention/de-escalation or to support callers through vulnerable moments before first responders arrive on-scene when appropriate. A large part of the 911 Clinician’s role is also following up with and providing community members connections to mental health and corresponding services by making referrals, providing resources, facilitating screenings, offering support and advocacy, and short-term case management.