Paint and Plant a Flower Pot (Central)
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.
Mad Science: Radical Robots (Central Square)
Celebrate Jasmine Warga's A Rover's Story with Mad Science's Radical Robots Workshop! Explore a world of robots and try your hand at building your own in this hour-long workshop. Recommended for children ages 5 and up. Registration is required. Please register all attending children (adults do not need to register).
This event is part of a special series promoting our 2026 Curious George Lecture (CGL) with Jasmine Warga, award-winning author of A Rover's Story, Other Words for Home, and many other popular children's books. Funding is generously provided by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.
Stephen Greenblatt presents: Dark Renaissance (Main)
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.
THE NEXT DREAM: Documentary Screening and Discussion (Main)
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.
An Afternoon of Poetry with Several Award-winning Poets (Main)
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.
CPL Presents: Morgan Talty, author of Fire Exit (Main/Virtual)
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.
CPL Presents: Johnisha Matthews Levi, the author of Numbers Up (Main Library)
For four decades, Johnisha Matthews Levi believed a conventional story about her birth, picturing her happy parents at the hospital together. While sorting through her late mother's belongings, however, she discovered a document indicating that her father was instead serving time in Lorton Correctional Complex. This revelation, along with rumors about an FBI investigation of her deceased parents' "private business," leads Levi to unearth the hidden history of her family. She ties this story to public policy, demonstrating how state lottery legalization and the War on Drugs disrupted the Black institutions and communities in Washington, DC. Registration is required.
Peter Guralnick presents: The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World (Main)
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.
911 Clinician
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.
Baker-Polito Administration Announces Plans for Continued Reopening
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.