Summer Sundays Ice Cream Party (Valente)
Come celebrate Summer Sundays at the Valente Branch and National Ice Cream Day with soft serve from Frosty Ice Cream. Listen to some summer tunes and learn about our all-ages summer reading!
If “Stranger Danger” is a Myth, Then What? (Main)
Most sexual violence is done by people we know. What can parents, teens, and community members do about it?
Meg Stone, author of The Cost of Fear, will offer practical, gender-inclusive strategies for learning safety skills important for resisting coercion, intimidation, and violence. Avoiding violence is about developing skills, not following rules. Women receive advice like "don't wear a ponytail" or "don't shop alone." These tips lack evidence and come from male authorities who avoid questions.
We will cover:
Demonstration: Learn practical safety gender-inclusive skills.
Resist Coercion: Skills to resist friends, those we know, or authority.
Empowerment: Feel powerful in stressful situations.
Community impact: Personal safety leads to social change.
Registration is required.
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: Decarbonizing the Future
Book: Electrify: an optimist's playbook for our clean energy future by Saul Griffith
This group will meet virtually and in person at the Collins Branch. 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. For more information contact Jo at jpercell@cambridgema.gov.
2025 Mt Auburn Street Closures
Due to structural concerns at 221 Mount Auburn Street (Riverview Condominium Building), the City of Cambridge will close segments of Mount Auburn Street and Sparks Street starting Saturday, July 19. Multiple detours and traffic changes will be in place to maintain the closure, which may last through the end of 2025.
Karen Russell Presents: The Antidote (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Karen Russell—award-winning author of six books of fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove—for a discussion of her new novel The Antidote.
Registration is required.
Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper Schools Public Art
A beloved apple tree will sprout new life through the process of tree grafting and mature pin oaks will be transformed into interactive sculptures as part of a public art project from the firm IKD that is planned for the City of Cambridge’s Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper Schools complex.
Tom Lin presents: Babylon, South Dakota (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Tom Lin—Carnegie Medal-winning author of The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu, and professor of English and creative writing at the University of Iowa—for a discussion of his highly anticipated new novel, Babylon, South Dakota. Registration is required.
Summer Reading: ¡Música! with Mariana Iranzi (Main)
Join us for a bilingual family concert in English and Spanish. Singing, dancing and tons of fun guaranteed! Recommended for children of all ages and their caregivers.
Funding for Summer Reading has been generously provided by the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Cambridge Public Library.