Angela Buchdahl presents: Heart of a Stranger (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Angela Buchdahl—Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City and the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi—for a discussion of her memoir Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging. She will be joined in conversation by Allegra Goodman—local author of the bestselling novels Isola and The Chalk Artist.
Registration is required.
Radius Ensemble presents a Free Family Concert (Main)
Join us for a relaxed Saturday morning concert with Radius Ensemble! The concert, geared toward preschool children but appropriate for all ages, includes string quartets from around the globe, as well as a show-and-tell of the instruments of the string family. From Mozart to Scott Joplin, repertoire spans centuries and traverses continents, exposing children to a variety of musical traditions. Kids are welcome to snuggle, dance, sing, walk around and just be kids. For the final piece of this 45 minute program, we invite children to play along on hand percussion instruments (provided by the Ensemble) such as tambourines and claves, and each child receives a free colorful shaker to take home.
Recommended for children ages 3 to 5 years with caregiver. This program can accommodate 130 people. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis on the day of the program. The entire party must be present to receive a ticket. This program starts promptly, and any unclaimed seats will be offered to someone waiting. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Please call 617-349-4038 for more information.
Summer Reading: Arthropod Petting Zoo (O'Connell)
The Arthropod Petting Zoo is a hands-on, show-and-tell introduction to entomology featuring real live insects and arthropods! While having fun and interacting with genuine crawling critters, kids learn about biology, taxonomy, adaptations, and scientific thinking that real scientists use in the field. Recommended for ages 3-12 and their families.
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.
Summer Reading: Arthropod Petting Zoo (Collins)
The Arthropod Petting Zoo is a hands-on, show-and-tell introduction to entomology featuring real live insects and arthropods! While having fun and interacting with genuine crawling critters, kids learn about biology, taxonomy, adaptations and scientific thinking that real scientists use in the field.
Recommended for children ages 3-12 and their caregivers.
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.
Filmmaking 101 (Main)
Learn how to use our Sony FX6 camera to film your own videos! In this session, you'll also practice lighting for film and editing a short video using provided footage. Registration is required.
You must complete Hive Safety Training before registering for this workshop.
After completing this training, you will be able to reserve out Multimedia Studio during Open Shop Hours.
Filmmaking 101 (Main)
Learn how to use our Sony FX6 camera to film your own videos! In this session, you'll also practice lighting for film and editing a short video using provided footage. Registration is required.
You must complete Hive Safety Training before registering for this workshop.
After completing this training, you will be able to reserve out Multimedia Studio during Open Shop Hours.
Filmmaking 101 (Main)
Learn how to use our Sony FX6 camera to film your own videos! In this session, you'll also practice lighting for film and editing a short video using provided footage. Registration is required.
You must complete Hive Safety Training before registering for this workshop.
After completing this training, you will be able to reserve out Multimedia Studio during Open Shop Hours.
Filmmaking 101 (Main)
Learn how to use our Sony FX6 camera to film your own videos! In this session, you'll also practice lighting for film and editing a short video using provided footage. Registration is required.
You must complete Hive Safety Training before registering for this workshop.
After completing this training, you will be able to reserve out Multimedia Studio during Open Shop Hours.
CPL Nature Club: Rethinking Urban Green Spaces: Nature Walk with Earthwise Aware (Main)
Join Earthwise Aware (EwA) for an interactive walk to observe, document, and take part in shaping urban spaces that work with nature. Together, we will explore how design choices and climate pressures shape the ecological value of our everyday green spaces, and document habitat conditions using simple citizen science tools.
Starting at the library lawn, we will examine spaces that appear green but often function poorly. Manicured lawns and sparse tree plantings may look inviting, yet they frequently support little biodiversity and can limit soil health and resilience. What makes a space truly nature-friendly? We will record what is present, what is missing, and what that tells us about ecological function.
During the walk, we will:
Observe and document plant communities and habitat quality
Identify signs of low and high ecological function
Compare conventional landscapes with more resilient plantings such as native beds or meadow patches
Contribute real data that supports local ecological understanding and decision making
This is participatory science in practice. Your observations will feed into broader efforts to track urban biodiversity and inform better land use choices.
The program will meet outside the library in Joan Lorentz Park. Registration required.
Rain date: Wednesday May 6
A Force for Good: Gisela Warburg Wyzanski, A Life Dedicated to the Rescue of Children (Main)
A Force for Good is the biography of the remarkable life of Gisela Warburg Wyzanski. Unlike many wealthy German Jews, Gisela chose to remain in Europe to combat the horrors wrought by Hitler and the Nazis. From both Europe and the United States, she worked tirelessly to bring war-torn European children to a new life in the land now known as Israel.
In 1943, Gisela married Federal Judge Charles E. Wyzanski and the couple settled in Cambridge where they raised their family and where Gisela continued her activism.
A Force for Good evolved from the discovery of a treasure-trove of letters and documents carefully preserved by Gisela herself and recently discovered by her daughter, Anita Wyzanski Robboy, the book’s author.
Anita Wyzanski Robboy is a noted author and lawyer. She is a partner in the Boston law firm, Prince Lobel & Tye, LLC, and is currently a Visiting Scholar/Research Associate at Brandeis University. She authored Aftermarriage: the Myth of Divorce, Lewis Hayden: From Fugitive Slave to Free Mason, and numerous articles in legal publications. She is the daughter of Gisela Warburg Wyzanski and Judge Charles E. Wyzanski.