Documentary Screening: Optics of Aging (Main)
Please join us for a screening of Optics of Aging. A Q&A with the director, Michelle Le Brun, will follow the screening.
In Optics of Aging stereotypes of ageism dissolve as the beauty of aging is revealed through five elders who have shaped the culture and political landscape of Rhode Island and beyond. Their voices take flight against the backdrop of archival imagery that captures the vision of an earlier time of vast sociocultural change.
Registration is requested, but not required.
Reel Reads Book Group (O'Connell)
Introducing the Reel Reads Book Group!
Each month we read a book selection with a movie adaptation and discuss the relationship between the two and the merits and/or drawbacks of each.
July selection: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean & Adaptation (film)
How to get the print book: Copies of the book are set aside at the O'Connell Branch. Click here for O'Connell Branch Hours
This month’s book and movie may also be available digitally through Libby, Hoopla or Kanopy.
This book group meets every other month, in person at the O'Connell Branch. Registration is helpful!
For more information contact the branch at 617-349-4019.
Reel Reads Book Group (O'Connell)
Introducing the Reel Reads Book Group! Each month we read a book selection with a movie adaptation and discuss the relationship between the two and the merits and/or drawbacks of each.
November selection: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte & "Wuthering Heights" (2026 film)
How to get the print book: Copies of the book are set aside at the O'Connell Branch. Click here for O'Connell Branch Hours
This month’s book and movie may also be available digitally through Libby, Hoopla or Kanopy.
This book group meets every other month, in person at the O'Connell Branch. Registration is helpful!
For more information contact the branch at 617-349-4019.
Activist Sharing Night: Button Making (Central Square)
Join the Cambridge YWCA, the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission, and the Central Square Branch Library for a screening of the short documentary Ephemera about Libby Bouvier's activist button collection. Libby Bouvier has spent most of her life collecting an archive of cause buttons and other "ephemera" from the women’s movement, the LGBT movement, and other radical causes she's been directly or indirectly involved with over the decades. This is a moving image portrait of her and her collection. Produced by Lily Bouvier.
After the documentary screening, we'll have an opportunity to share about our own activism and to use the Library button makers. We'll have magazines, paper, markers, and more so you can make your own buttons to share your activism with the world!
Get creative with us, and join other local activists!
Beyond the Call: CARE Documentary Screening (Central Square)
Join us on Thursday July 16th at 6:30pm to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the launch of the CARE (Community Assistance Response and Engagement)Team! We will be screening Beyond The Call, a powerful documentary highlighting how the City of Cambridge created and implemented the CARE Team, a community-centered alternative response program designed to support people experiencing mental health and behavioral health crises. This documentary will offer an inside look at the challenges, breakthroughs, and real-life impact of building a public safety model rooted in care instead of criminalization.
There will be food, swag, and an opportunity to connect directly with those doing the work!
Reel Reads Book Group (O'Connell)
Introducing the Reel Reads Book Group!
Each month we read a book selection with a movie adaptation and discuss the relationship between the two and the merits and/or drawbacks of each.
September selection: Forrest Gump by Winston Groom & the 1994 film Forrest Gump (dir. Robert Zemekis)
How to get the print book and DVD: Copies of the book and DVD are set aside at the O'Connell Branch. Click here for O'Connell Branch Hours
This month’s book and movie may also be available digitally through Libby, Hoopla or Kanopy.
This book group meets every other month, in person at the O'Connell Branch. Registration is helpful!
For more information contact the branch at 617-349-4019.
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.
Reel Reads Book Club (O'Connell)
Is it true the book is always better? Join our new book club at the O'Connell Branch to delve into this question! Each month we will read a book selection with a movie adaptation, and discuss the relationship between the two and the merits and/or drawbacks of each.
The Reel Reads book club will meet the first Tuesday evening of each month at the O'Connell Branch Library on 48 Sixth St.
For our inaugural meeting in May, we will be discussing Forrest Gump by Winston Groom, and the 1994 film of the same name.
How to get the print book and physical movie: Copies of the book and DVD are set aside at the O'Connell Branch. Click here for O'Connell Branch Hours
This book group meets in person at the O'Connell Branch. No registration is needed. Drop-ins welcome.
For more information contact the branch at 617-349-4019.