Cambridge Public Library

Wednesdays 6-7:30 p.m. through July 29, 2026

Join us for an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Conversation Practice at the O'Neill Branch. This conversation group is for those with an intermediate or high level of English language skill. No testing is required.

For more information on other ESOL classes, please call Maria Balestrieri at 617-349-4013.

Join the Central Square Book Group!

This month, we're reading Death Take Me by Cristina Rivera Garza. Copies are available for pickup at the Branch.

Celebrate at the Library with a special Park Sounds Performance with saxophonist Tim Hall on June 18, 4-5:30 p.m. Tim Hall is an award-winning musician, performance poet, and producer from Detroit, MI, now based in Boston. (Pictured: Lady Lee and the New Awakening Band, June 2024)

Families with young children can join us for an outdoor story time and walk at Alewife Reservation! Wednesday 6/17 we will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the seating area on the bike path near DCR Wetland Boardwalk.
https://bit.ly/3RU7Mz1

Join us every first and third Monday of the month to learn and practice Zen meditation with our neighbors at the Cambridge Zen Center!

Each session consists of 15 minutes of introduction meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, followed by 10 minutes for questions.

For more information about the Cambridge Zen Center, please visit their website: cambridgezen.org/getting-started

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 within the Fresh Pond Reservation.

Thursday, July 9
5-7:30 p.m.

Registration is required. Register here: https://cambridgepl.libcal.com/event/16815663

Get ready for a summer celebration of freedom and resilience with Juneteenth Unlimited! In this interactive workshop, children explore the story of Juneteenth, the oldest commemoration of the outlawing of slavery in the United States. Through stories, craft-making, and a Jubilee teach-in, we'll honor the joy and radical resistance of Black Americans then and now. Recommended for youth ages 6 and up and their caregivers.

African American Heritage is a groundbreaking digital resource exclusively devoted to African American family history research. Use your Cambridge Public Library card to access to a range of primary sources devoted specifically to African American family history, including: census records, vital records, freedman and slave records, church records, legal records, and more! Visit camb.ma/cplonline to try African American Heritage today, or visit a CPL location to learn more.

In celebration of the Secret Gardens of Cambridge 2026, Director Maria McCauley attended a reception for the gardeners last week. Thank you to Mt. Auburn Cemetery for hosting a lovely event, and thanks to the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library for organizing the Secret Gardens fundraiser!

All Library locations will be closed on Friday, June 19, for Juneteenth