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Continue building your machine-sewing skills AND receive support as you work on your own sewing projects with our Library sewing community. Participants must register but may drop-in any time during the program. This program is designed for patrons who know the basics of how to use our Janome sewing machines. 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.

Continue building your machine-sewing skills AND receive support as you work on your own sewing projects with our Library sewing community. Participants must register but may drop-in any time during the program. This program is designed for patrons who know the basics of how to use our Janome sewing machines. 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.

Using embroidery hoops, participants will hand-stitch words of affirmation while learning basic sewing techniques. The workshop begins with a short conversation about sewing traditions across cultures, followed by guided demonstrations and hands-on practice. Recommended for ages 8+.

Combine your love for art and Autumn, here at the Library! This art class will be a hybrid of indoor and outdoor time. Allowing you to get up close with fruits and seeds taking an artistic observation of your surroundings. All supplies will be provided but please bring any protective gear (long sleeves and sweaters) in the event of slightly cold weather. Registration is required.

You don't have to be a poet to have something to say. In this generative writing workshop, led by poet Anthony Febo, participants will explore a variety of ways to fill the blank page with poetry that is reflective of their own lived experience. Performance tools will be weaved throughout the workshop to give participants the confidence to share their work at the end. This event is reserved for teens. Advance registration is encouraged.

Join Earthwise Aware for a thought-provoking workshop examining how land use and climate change influence the design, function, and future of urban green spaces. Starting at the library’s front lawn, we will explore how conventional designs can undermine biodiversity and tree health. What makes a space truly nature-friendly? Can a lawn, sidewalk, or plaza be transformed into habitat? We will compare low-functioning green spaces with examples of micro-forests, native plantings, and meadows. Along the way, we will observe seasonal changes in plants and wildlife through the lens of phenology, the study of nature’s calendar. We will also introduce simple participatory science tools that help monitor habitat quality, foster community engagement, and inform better decisions. Even a modest native plant patch can be a pocket of resilience. Come learn how to spot, support, and reimagine urban nature that works with the ecosystem, not just mimics it. The program will start with a workshop in the Rossi Room, then move outside to Joan Lorentz Park. Registration required.

Cambridge is home to over 80 species of edible wild plants, some of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. These include native species like Fox Grape and Shagbark Hickory; non-native weeds like Chicory and Burdock; and invasive species like Japanese Knotweed and Autumn Olive. Join expert forager Russ Cohen on a 2.5 hour ramble around Fresh Pond to learn about over two dozen species of edible wild plants. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with info on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, as well as guidelines for safe, ethical and environmentally-responsible foraging. NOTE that this is an educational walk only: no actual foraging will take place, as that activity is prohibited with in the Fresh Pond Reservation. We will meet at Fresh Pond, in the main parking lot by the ranger station and water department. Russ Cohen is a naturalist and wild foods enthusiast from Weston, Mass., currently in his 52nd year of leading walks and talks about wild edibles. He has led talks for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the New England Forestry Foundation, and The Trustees of Reservations. Russ' foraging book, Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten, is now in its ninth printing. Russ has taken on the role of Johnny Appleseed for edible native species, collaborating with land trusts, cities and towns, and other groups (including one in Cambridge) to plant plants from his nursery in appropriate places on their properties.

Join local author Clare Walker Leslie (How to Look at a Bird, Keeping a Nature Journal) to learn how to draw Cambridge birds! Participants will discuss birds local to Cambridge, learn how to draw the birds they see every day, and leave the program with their own finished bird drawing. All drawing and reference materials will be provided and all skill levels are welcome, no previous drawing experience required. If you don't think you can draw a bird, that's okay - this event will show you that you can! Registration is required for this program. This program is suggested for participants ages 8 and up.

In this 90-minute workshop, you’ll learn the basics of sewing machine operation and safety. This session will cover machine setup, basic functions, threading the machine, reloading the bobbin, sewing straight stitches, and recognizing when stitch tension has gone awry. We’ll also cover some safety best practices when operating a sewing machine. As we learn together, we’ll work on a simple sewing project—a drawstring bag—which most students will be able to complete by the end of the class. Registration is prioritized for patrons who will directly benefit from interpretation in American Sign Language. Please email thehive@cambridgema.gov to register. You must complete Hive Safety Training before registering for this workshop.

Join the Cambridge Public Library in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by welcoming Valeria Luiselli—the acclaimed author of several books, including Tell Me How It Ends and Lost Children Archive, the recipient of the 2021 Dublin Literary Award—for a reading from her new novel, Beginning Middle End. In Beginning Middle End, which received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, Luiselli returns to the road novel form which she innovated in Lost Children Archive. Called "a beautiful, maybe perfect, novel," Beginning Middle End follows a mother and daughter on a quest to start over and find for themselves a new story, in the process weaving "together four generations of women through archaeology, mythology, and the natural world" (W Magazine). After reading from her work, Luiselli will sit in conversation with Eloisa Amezcua, an award-winning poet, translator, and author of Fighting Is Like a Wife. An audience Q&A and book signing will follow. Registration is required.