Climate Action Book Club (Collins/Virtual)
Join the Collins Branch Library in collaboration with the Cambridge Climate Leaders Initiative for a monthly discussion of a climate-related topic. Each month the group will discuss a book on the topic at hand then hear about a related local program or initiative and how you can take action.
Topic: Farming for the Future
Book: We are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate by Michael Grunwald
Registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information contact Jo at jpercell@cambridgema.gov.
Summer Kickoff Party: Plant a Seed, Sing & Read! (Main)
Join us in Joan Lorentz Park (outside the Main Library) for a Summer Kickoff Party for all ages! Enjoy a live concert with award-winning, GRAMMY nominated folk musician Alastair Moock and friends! Take home a tiny blossom kit and enjoy ice-cream (while supplies last). You can also register for Summer Reading, pick up a bingo board and learn more about special events happening across branches all summer long. The Department of Public Works, Community Gardens, and Office of Sustainability will join us to celebrate summer and the natural world.
Climate Action Book Club (Collins)
Join the Collins Branch Library in collaboration with the Cambridge Climate Leaders Initiative for a monthly discussion of a climate-related topic. Each month the group will discuss a book on the topic at hand then hear about a related local program or initiative and how you can take action. Books have been reserved for the group and may be picked up at Collins.
Topic: The Pollinator Pathways: Rewilding our Cities and Restoring our Future
Book: Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy
Registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information contact Andrea: afiorillo@cambridgema.gov.
Sustaining Community: A Climate Change Book Group
The climate is changing, and we're all here on the planet together. Join us for a monthly community gathering and discussion of a variety of books about climate change. We will share thoughts, resources, and occasionally host special guests in a welcoming small-group environment.
For our inaugural meeting, we will discuss Walden Warming by Richard B. Primack.
Copies of the book are available at the Main Library Q&A Desk. E-book copies of the book are available to borrow immediately on the Hoopla app.
Registration is required. Please contact alengel@cambridgema.gov with questions.
Gaelynn Lea presents: It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Gaelynn Lea—folk musician, Broadway composer, and disability advocate—for a discussion of her new memoir, It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect. She will be joined in conversation by Adrian Anantawan—violinist, current Chair of Music at Milton Academy, the Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston, and Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music—and Colleen Flanagan—longtime activist for disability rights, working at the City of Boston Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities as the Outreach and Engagement Specialist. Registration is required.
Boudreau Branch Mystery Book Group (Boudreau/Virtual)
May Selection: The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie.
This book group will meet virtually and in person at the Boudreau Branch. We will discuss current and classic mystery titles. Please register below if you would like to attend via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants one hour before the event.
How to get the book: Copies of the print book will be set aside at the Boudreau Branch (245 Concord Ave; current hours).
For more information, call 617-349-4017 or email Liz Danner at edanner@cambridgema.gov.
Summer Reading: Cambridge City Growers Seed & Seedling Swap (Main)
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE from Joan Lorentz Park to CPL Rindge Room.
Swap extra seeds, plants or harvested items from your garden at the Library! Learn informally about Cambridge's pollinator biodiversity and why it's so important to grow and share food, strengthen and grow our local food economy, and most of all...to get our hands dirty while we get to know our neighbors, our community and our place in the world around us.
Kids can make a pollinator finger puppet or take home a kit to make one.
Aging with Insight: A Writing Workshop for the Curious
Aging with Insight: A Writing Workshop for the Curious
Unlock your memories. Capture your wisdom. Discover your voice.
Whether you’re a regular journal writer or a person who thinks about journaling someday, join us for a session of guided creative exploration. In this supportive, low-pressure workshop, we’ll use simple, high impact prompts to spark memory and reflect upon the joys and challenges of growing older. Bring a notebook and pen or laptop, whatever works best for you.
Join local author Connie Biewald for this writing workshop for Older Adults!
Summer Reading: Dance Workshop with Jean Appolon Expressions (Central Square)
Experience the vibrant rhythms of Haitian Folklore in a class led by JAE company dancer Velouse Joseph. Class is accessible to all levels and welcomes kids of all ages and their caregivers. Class includes a guided warm-up followed by traditional Haitian dances. You'll move to the sounds of prerecorded Haitian rhythms as you connect to culture, community, and the joy of movement.
No registration required.
Funding for Summer Reading has been generously provided by the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Cambridge Public Library.
How We Remember, What We Preserve: Washington's Legacy at Mount Vernon (Main/Virtual)
To mark the 250th anniversaries of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, a coalition of local non-profits and government agencies will present Washington in American Memory, a seven-part speaker series.
Explore the 19th century origins of preservation at Mount Vernon, current conservation work, and the estate’s future, featuring:
Doug Bradburn, President and CEO of George Washington’s Mount Vernon and co-founder and editor of the book series, Early American Histories
Andrea Sahin, Vice Regent for Massachusetts to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association