Vegetable Fermentation for Gut Health (Central Square)
What’s all this fuss about fermented foods? Why are fermented foods essential for gut health, and why are they so expensive? In this class, Mo Katz-Christy will walk you through how to use any old vegetables to make delicious and nutritious fermented foods that replenish the microbiome, regulate our immune system, and more! Leave with a jar of kraut that you can share with your household.
Mo Katz-Christy (they/them) is a queer Ashkenazi Jewish herbalist born and raised in Cambridge, MA on unceded Massachusett land. They approach herbalism by connecting folks to the knowledge they already have about their body and herbs through working with kitchen medicine, ancestral traditions, and mulberries falling on the sidewalk!
Mo graduated from a three-year clinical herbalism program at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in 2022. They work one-on-one with clients to address the root imbalances that are causing dysregulation and to promote long-term healing, focusing on gut health. You can find out more about their work at mokatzchristy.com.
CPL Nature Club: Rethinking Urban 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
Summer Reading: Last Day of School Celebration (O'Neill)
6/24/25: This event is still on, but will be modified due to the extreme heat.
Join us INDOORS at the O'Neill Branch to celebrate the end of the school year and the start of the summer!
We will have food (INDOORS AND OUTDOORS), games and art. No registration is required. All ages are welcome!
Summer Reading: Stay Cool Craft (Boudreau)
Join us for a nice, cool afternoon of crafting at the Boudreau branch. All crafting materials will be provided by the library. This event is intended for school-age children. No registration necessary - this event is open to all while supplies last.
Summer Reading: Stay Cool Craft (Boudreau)
Join us for a nice, cool afternoon of crafting at the Boudreau branch. All crafting materials will be provided by the library. This event is intended for school-age children. No registration necessary - this event is open to all while supplies last.
Cambridge Young Authors' Squad - CYAS with guest author Patrick Joyce (O'Neill)
Young people ages 10 to 14 who love to write are welcome to share their ideas and writing. There will be time for share-outs/workshopping, as well as group or solo writing. Snacks are provided!
This week we will be joined by guest author Patrick Joyce, author of Back in the USSR and Strawberry Fields.
If you are attending for the first time, registration is helpful, but not required.