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Join us for a 90-minute workshop where you’ll learn the simple, meditative basics of Chigiri-e (“chee-gee-ree-eh”), a traditional Japanese art form where the name literally means "torn picture." Rather than using scissors for sharp, clean cuts, we carefully tear the paper to create soft, feathered edges that look almost like a watercolor painting. Whether you’re a long-time crafter or haven't picked up an art project in years, come enjoy some quiet, analog crafting time making a handmade picture, led by instructor Chihiro Sato. You will bring home not just a unique piece, but also the know-how to continue enjoying Chigiri-e at home. Space is limited. Registration is required.

Due to the popularity of Sifu Diaz's classes, we expect participants to attend all sessions and participation in this program will be decided by lottery. Join us in this eleven-week Tai Chi Paradigm practice, which focuses on the mind and body connection. Tai Chi is a fluid sequence of movements choreographed in a low impact routine. This is an in-person event at the Valente Branch. To enter the lottery, please register for the waitlist below. This waitlist will constitute the pool from which 15 names will be drawn randomly. Registration will open Wednesday, March 4 at 9AM and close Wednesday, April 1 at 5PM. Participants selected will be notified on Friday, April 3. Sponsored by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation

In January 2020, the largest and most eagerly awaited cache of new materials written by the Nobel-Prize-winning poet T. S. Eliot was finally opened: the 1,131 letters he sent Emily Hale, his little-known American love, over the course of their lifetimes. Their relationship was, in their own words, an “unnatural” love affair, one that began in Cambridge in 1913, when Eliot was a graduate student at Harvard and Hale, an aspiring amateur actress, and that played out in Boston, England and California over the years. Named as one of its "Fifty Notable Non-fiction Books of 2024" by the Washington Post, Fitzgerald's biography of Hale is based on the embargoed letters and extensive research into Hale’s life and times. Hale was much more than just a muse to a literary celebrity. She overcame personal hardship to pursue a career as a professor of speech and drama at prominent American women’s colleges and schools, including Simmons and Smith Colleges and Abbot and Concord Academies. She was a talented amateur actress and director, who performed at many Boston area theaters and later guided Eliot as he tried his hand at playwriting. But in the end, Eliot disavowed her, sending a secret letter to Harvard in 1960 that claimed his love for Hale was that of “a ghost for a ghost,” and confirming that he had arranged for Hale’s side of their 27-year correspondence to be destroyed. In the words of The Washington Post reviewer, “Missing letters, a secret love affair, a famous poet, a beautiful actress—what else could you possibly want in a story?" Sara Fitzgerald is a retired journalist whose career included fifteen years as an editor and new media developer for The Washington Post. In 2020, she also published The Poet’s Girl: A Novel of Emily Hale and T. S. Eliot. Since then, her essays about Hale have appeared in multiple volumes of the Journal of the T. S. Eliot Society and the T. S. Eliot Studies Annual. She has presented at the annual meetings of the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, the International T. S. Eliot Society, and at the T. S. Eliot Summer School at Oxford. She is also the author of the biography, Elly Peterson: “Mother” of the Moderates and Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX.

Join us at Donnelly Field (behind the Valente Library) for a joyful celebration with musician and educator Otha Day! A Drum Circle is a highly interactive group of people who play drums and percussion instruments together to create in-the-moment music. Through the experience of rhythm and sound we experience what it means to beat as one heart: we become a vibrant community. This drum circle will include playful and accessible rhythm activities, games, traditional ensemble pieces, songs and most importantly, improvisation. No experience necessary; all ages can participate. No registration is required. In the event of rain, this program will move indoors to the Community Room of the Valente Branch. Funding for Vacation Week Programming: Live at the Library has been generously provided by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.

Join us during the partial solar eclipse and learn how to safely observe it! Eclipse glasses will be provided. This program will happen outside. In case of bad weather, there will be modified activities inside the Library. Funding for Summer Reading has been generously provided by the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Cambridge Public Library and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Join us as we edit and create Wikipedia pages related to Black history, with a focus on Black Cantabrigians. We will use resources from the Library's Archives and Special Collections and the Black Voices Collection at the Central Square Branch. At this Wikipedia edit-a-thon, we'll work together to contribute to Wikipedia, focusing on expanding our knowledge of underrepresented groups. You might add to the information on an existing page, create a new one, find reliable sources for others to use, or copyedit and format a page. All experience levels welcome! You do not need to have experience editing Wikipedia to attend and contribute! Laptops will be provided. If you have a Wikipedia account and want to join our dashboard for this event, please do so at this link: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Cambridge_Public_Library/Wikipedia_Highlights_Black_Cambridge_(February_25_2026) This event is in partnership with the Cambridge Black History Project.

Learn about our Reading/Writing and Math classes for adults and take a placement test. Students work towards their high school equivalency (GED/HiSET) or want to improve their skills.

Learn about our Reading/Writing and Math classes for adults and take a placement test. Students work towards their high school equivalency (GED/HiSET) or want to improve their skills.

Learn about our Reading/Writing, Math and Science classes for adults and take a placement test. Students work towards their high school equivalency (GED/HiSET) or want to improve their skills.

Learn about our Reading/Writing, Math and Science classes for adults and take a placement test. Students work towards their high school equivalency (GED/HiSET) or want to improve their skills.