That's What Friends Are For

If you've been reading this blog over the past months, you might have noticed the many ways the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library support the library programs and services for each and every patron in the city. 

Through membership dues and fundraising events like this year’s Secret Gardens of Cambridge garden tour, the Friends sponsor important programming and activities at the library. You might have enjoyed some of these very perks if you've joined in Cambridge READS, participated in a summer reading program with your children or teen, attended an author discussion, used a free museum pass to get the family and visitors out of the house, perused new collections, checked out a Nook for vacation reading, or watched a film festival movie at home courtesy of the library’s new IndieFlix service.

Those are just a few of the ways the Friends support the Cambridge Public Library and each of our neighborhood branches and help make them each special places in our communities. Keep up with the Friends on Facebook and if you're interested in becoming a member, find out more here.

Your Very Own Film Festival and New Nooks for Vacation Books

This summer, the Cambridge Public Library has something new for patrons looking for summer entertainment, no matter whether you’re vacationing or staycationing.

If you’re planning summer fun at home with friends and family and need a break between wiffle ball games, check out the new IndieFlix movie streaming service from the Cambridge Public Library.

Provided with funding from the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library, IndieFlix is the latest database available to patrons of the Cambridge Public Library. It offers more than 3,500 first-run films, including those currently at film festivals, past award winners and many films that will never be released on DVD or Blu-Ray. And it’s available anywhere! Once you sign up, you can watch IndieFlix movies from any Internet-enabled computer, smartphone, or tablet with a Web browser.

For those of you planning a getaway, but still having trouble fitting all your summer reads into the suitcase, don’t forget that you can check out a Nook from the Cambridge Public Library. With support from the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library, Nooks are available at all branches and the main library. 

And now, the new sleeker Nook Glowlights are also available at the Q&A desk and Teen Room at the main library--perfect for a sunny day at the beach or the pool--and they’re loaded with brand new titles for adults and teens.

Cambridge READS Announces 2014 Title

If you've been looking for a special summer read you won't soon forget, consider the just-announced 2014 Cambridge READS selection: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

With support from the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge READS is an annual city-wide book club to promote the love of reading and connections within the Cambridge community. Mark your calendars for the Cambridge READS author event and discussion on October 14, 2014 and watch here for more details coming this summer.

And just for fun, check out this archive blog post featuring author Junot Diaz speaking about the importance of libraries during a visit to the Cambridge Public Library last year.

There are always great things happening at the library! For more information about how you can get involved with the Friends to help support our Cambridge libraries and exciting programs like Cambridge READS, click here. 

Summer Days Mean Summer Reading

School days are counting down and the official start of summer is almost here! That means it's time to set summer reading goals and more at the library.

The Cambridge Public Library is kick starting summer activities and reading programs for children and teens at the main library and many of the branches in June. Don’t miss a cool concert, a petting zoo, or a little magical mayhem for kids of all ages.

While you're there, get started on your summer reading list. Pick out a new book or three and take it to the beach, the neighborhood library branch, or the backyard!

The Friends of the Cambridge Public Library helps sponsor many of the summer reading programs at the library. There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends to help support our Cambridge libraries, click here.

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You!

What a spectacular day this past Sunday for the Secret Gardens of Cambridge!

Special thanks to each and every one of our gracious garden hosts for allowing us to take a peek at your secret sanctuaries. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and helped support the Cambridge Public Library with your participation. And thank you to the local retailers who sold tickets and put up posters to help the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library promote the event.

Proceeds from the event go to support acquisitions, events, museum passes, summer reading programs and more at our Cambridge Public Library and branches. We hope you enjoyed the 2014 Secret Gardens of Cambridge garden tour! If you have a garden that should be on the tour in 2016, we'd love to see it. Contact the Friends to tell us about your secret garden in Cambridge.

Secret Gardens of Cambridge is this Sunday!

It looks like weekend temperatures will bring back the hints of spring. So don't wait! Get your tickets for the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library Secret Gardens of Cambridge tour THIS SUNDAY, June 1 from 10am to 4pm.

Rain or shine, you'll love meandering through the Cambridge neighborhoods to enjoy the lush green terraces, brilliant pops of color, and the fragrant scents of flowers in bloom that will surprise you at every turn.

Get your tickets before they’re gone! Tickets are $25 each and are on sale now at all Cambridge Public Library locations and at the following local retailers: 

Bonny's Garden Center

Brattle Florist
Dickson Bros. Hardware
Mahoney's in Brighton
Nomad
Pemberton Farms
Porter Square Books
Rodney's Books

Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library in support of our Cambridge Public Library.

Spring into Summer with the Secret Gardens of Cambridge on June 1

Remember winter? 

Oh, that’s right, it went on for about eight months this year.

But yes, winter is officially over, and in its place we have the every-other-year celebration of spring, the Secret Gardens of Cambridge tour. 

Remember winter all you want, but come on: is there really anything better than spending one Sunday in June wandering through gardens and fields and back yards and private places, talking to people just like you who like nothing better than getting their hands dirty bringing something to life?

Forget winter. The Secret Gardens of Cambridge are amazing.

So here’s the deal: on Sunday, June 1st, between 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, we’re inviting you to enjoy more than two dozen gardens in Cambridge that you’d never be able to see any other time of the year. A taste of the summer to come, and a reminder of why we love living here.

Rain or shine, the gardens are beautiful and full of color. But just as important, the Secret Gardens of Cambridge is the single largest one-year fundraiser for the Cambridge Public Library. Buy a ticket for $25.00, and you’ll help the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library purchase new acquisitions, fund family programs, bring guest speakers, and underwrite all the activities that help make the Cambridge Public Library the center of our community that it is.

Beautiful gardens, hidden Cambridge spaces, helping the library. Is there any better way to start the summer?

Tickets are on sale now at all Cambridge library locations and at the following local retailers: 

Bonny's Garden Center

Brattle Florist

Dickson Bros. Hardware

Mahoney's in Brighton

Nomad

Pemberton Farms

Porter Square Books

Rodney's Books

Fun Facts about the Secret Gardens of Cambridge

The weather is warming up and the sun is out!

The mulch is being delivered, the green leaves are filling in, and the gardens along the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library garden tour are being pampered and prettied up for their June 1 debut!

Don’t forget to get your tickets early. And for fun, here’s a few tidbits about the Secret Gardens of Cambridge:

Friends of the Cambridge Public Library member 
Sherry Leffert photographed this dewy daisy on 
Wendell St.

The Secret Gardens of Cambridge event takes place rain or shine. Who doesn’t love to have a peek at a swath of brightly blooming flowers covered in raindrops?

The self-guided garden tour of Cambridge began in 2000, when the late Frances Tenenbaum joined the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library. Francis was an award-winning garden writer and because of her, the Friends’ signature fundraising event began!

In 2012, the garden tour highlighted “Open Secrets” along the route as well. Open Secrets are those beautiful, but not-so-secret gardens and green spaces you can enjoy from the street view all around Cambridge.

One of our Friends Board members brought along some of her friends for a walking garden party in past years and shared impressions from the group’s garden note-taking.

It's On!

The countdown to the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library Secret Gardens of Cambridge event starts today!

The 2014 self-guided tour is Sunday, June 1 from 10am to 4pm. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at all Cambridge library branches and several area retailers. Check here for the list of locations.

The Secret Gardens of Cambridge has featured over 200 individual gardens around Cambridge since it began. Proceeds from the garden tour ticket sales are used by the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library to sponsor community events and special presentations at the library, to purchase museum passes for public use, to bring guest authors to the library, and to expand the library collections.

Watch for more details--and maybe some behind-the-scenes updates--here and on the Friends' Facebook page.

Have Fun with Science at the Library

The annual Cambridge Science Festival starts this weekend and over 150 events showcase science all over Cambridge through the week of April 18-27.

To kick it off, don’t miss the Cambridge Science Festival Carnival, featuring five science themes, and a Robot Zoo, at the Cambridge Public Library on Saturday, April 19, 12-5pm.

Events for adults and kids offer all kinds of experiments, discoveries, and fascinating activities to pique your scientific curiosity!

Secret Gardens of Cambridge Tickets On Sale May 1st

Spring is in the air. Finally!

Save the date for the
Friends of the Cambridge Public Library
Secret Gardens of Cambridge Tour
Sunday, June 1 from 10am – 4pm

Tickets go on sale May 1 and can be purchased at all Cambridge Libraries and the following local retailers:
Bonny’s Garden Center
Brattle Florist
Dickson Bros. Hardware
Mahoney’s Brighton
Nomad
Pemberton Farms
Porter Square Books
Rodney's Books

Watch for more details about ticket sales and the 2014 Secret Gardens of Cambridge here and on the Friends’ Facebook page.

Snap a Picture at the Library

When you head out to the library next week, don’t forget the camera! Monday, April 7 is Library Snapshot Day at all Cambridge Public Library branches.

Document what you love about your library with a selfie in the stacks and share it on Facebook or Twitter (@cambridgepl) with the #snapmass14 hashtag.

Strike a pose with your library card at the check-out desk, express your excitement browsing the new fiction, or show your studious side doing homework with friends in the teen room. You can even get a picture taken at one of the pop-up photo studios at the Cambridge libraries.

Snapshot Days help libraries collect data and photos that demonstrate the value of libraries and raise public awareness that libraries are busier than ever. There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help support our Cambridge libraries, click here.

Library Advocacy Day is March 31

Graphic courtesy of the Massachusetts
Board of Library Commissioners

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the digital lockout in libraries across the state and how funding can help crack the code. 

Did you know: Funding to support library technology has decreased by 56%, lower today than it was in 1998? And State Aid to support local libraries is down 31%, the lowest it’s been since 1994. As a result, libraries across the state are threading the needle to keep up and maintain technology resources, circulation, events, and community services with fewer resources.

Libraries serve as vibrant information hubs and community-gathering centers. In Cambridge, where we’re fortunate to have an incredible main library facility and city-wide system, we know this all too well. Watch this video demonstrating just how Massachusetts libraries stack up...against the state championship sports teams no less!

Each of us should be speaking up about how much we value our local library. Monday, March 31 is Library Advocacy Day at the Massachusetts State House—tell your lawmakers why your library is important to you.

To find out more, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has an easy-to-share online resource to help you learn more about library funding, the digital lockout, and other legislative issues here.

The Growing Digital Demand...and the Library Lockout

Now that almost everyone has some kind of mobile screen in their pocket or satchel, it is no wonder that eBook demand in Massachusetts libraries is up by over 5,000% since 2005!

There are two major challenges for libraries attempting to meet this demand:

1. Cost: Many publishers charge libraries up to 6 times more than consumers are charged for the same eBook. 
2. Access: Lack of library funding has left technology for eBook distribution networks behind and playing catch-up; plus lending restrictions placed on eBooks by vendors limit access even further.

Libraries play a vital role in providing equal, free and open access to information for every person. But the lockout faced by libraries and patrons is hindering access to new and growing digital resources.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissions and the Massachusetts Library System are piloting a new eBook and eContent system with 50 libraries across the state. With increased State Aid to Libraries, the program will be expanded to 1,700 libraries, including school, academic and special collection libraries as well as public libraries in Massachusetts.

We can all help advocate for better funding to increase eBook content and improve technology and resource sharing for new digital collections in our libraries. Learn more with this easy-to-share overview online, add your name to the map of support for eBooks and technology in libraries, or even talk to your lawmakers in person about why your library is important to you and your community during Library Legislative Day at the State House on March 31.

Save the Date: June 1, 2014

The Longfellow House and gardens in Cambridge

It may not look that way this blustery February week, but there is spring burgeoning underneath all that snow out there…we’re sure of it!

Save the Date:
The Friends of the Cambridge 
Public Library
Secret Gardens of Cambridge tour on Sunday, June 1, 2014

Tickets will be available at area retailers and library branches in coming months. Watch for details here and on the Friends’ Facebook page.

February is Love Your Library Month

Here in Cambridge, we have a lot to love in our libraries, from the beautiful and expansive main library to each one of our uniquely neighborhood local branches. Join the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library to help support library collections and programs. Love your library this month and every month!

MY LIBRARY

by Varda One

It's only a room with shelves and books,

but it's far more magical than it looks

It's a jet on which I soar

to lands that exist no more.

Or a key with which I find

answers to questions crowding my mind.

Building my habit of learning and growing,

asking and researching till I reach knowing.

Here, I've been a mermaid and an elf

I've even learned to be more myself.

I think that I shall never see

a place that's been more useful to me.

With encouraging kind friends with wit

Who tell me to dream big and never quit.

It's only a room with shelves and books,

but it's far more magical than it looks.

A lovely verse kindly shared by the author and Friends and Foundations of California Libraries; Copyright © 1999 by VARDA ONE.

Library Browsing Online

Winter cold has set in. And Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of it.

But if you’re planning an escape to somewhere warmer and want to pack light, check out Overdrive on the Cambridge Public Library’s website for a few vacation reads. Overdrive is a digital media catalog of eBooks and audiobooks. Library card holders can browse and check out any title online and read or listen on a Kindle, Droid, iPhone, or Nook.

You don't even have to have your own eBook reader...you can check out a Nook from the library too. In fact, with support from the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library, Nooks are now available at all Cambridge Public Library branches and the main library.

Don’t worry…if you’re weathering the cold from home, the eLibrary page on the Cambridge Public Library’s website offers some exceptional options for library browsing from the sofa! Check product reviews before you buy that new coffee maker, get recommendations for what you should read next, or learn a new language so next winter you have an excuse to head to warmer climates.

There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help support our Cambridge libraries, click here.

Ask the Librarian - Liz Danner

We feature a regular series of interviews with members of the Cambridge Public Library staff. This month, meet Liz...Children's Librarian at the Valente branch and another one of the people who make our Cambridge libraries fun and extraordinary places.

What made you want to become a librarian and what do you love most about your job? For two years after I graduated from college, I was a member of an AmeriCorps program in Manchester, New Hampshire whose mission was to promote early literacy to children and families who came from low-income backgrounds. As part of the program, I worked on several outreach projects with one of the children’s librarians at the city library and saw just how much of an impact public libraries can have on a young child’s life. I decided this was the kind of work I would love to do.

I love so many things about my job, but one of my favorites is giving children their first library cards. Several times, I have had children who I know from their preschools or library story times come in to the library with their parents on the day that they turn five in order to tell me that they are there to finally get their own card. It’s a pretty amazing to be able to be a part of that experience.

What’s unique about being a librarian at the Valente branch? One thing that I really love about working at the Valente Branch is getting to be a part of the neighborhood. I've met people from all over the country and world, people who have lived in Cambridge their entire lives, and people who have just moved to the area. I especially love being able to hear stories about what the neighborhood was like 10, 20, or even 50 years ago.

What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you in your role as a librarian? One day, I had been helping out at another branch and as I was walking back to my branch, I passed by a group of preschoolers that I read stories to one morning a week. When they saw me, they were excited and all said hi, but one of the group was very concerned to see me outside of the library and expressed their worry that no one was watching the books. I assured them that my colleagues were taking good care of the books back at the branch and they seemed relieved.

How has technology changed your job? What is your opinion on e-books like the Kindle? One of the greatest benefits of technology in the library is the online catalog; people are now able to renew and request materials from home and then pick them up at the branch closest to them.

I have a Kindle and I love it. I tend to read a mix of both print and e-books. I still prefer print for graphic novels and picture books but for novels, I’ll read either version. I am constantly checking Overdrive, the library’s digital media catalog, for more titles. The Kindle is especially nice on days when I use public transportation to get to work, nothing beats having a lighter backpack!

What is something that people may find surprising about your role as a librarian? I don’t end up reading nearly as many books as I would like. I've found that since becoming a librarian, my “want to read” list is growing at a much quicker pace than I am actually reading.

Tell us about a situation you were part of or witnessed at the library that has stuck with you over time. There is a young patron who comes to the library several times a week. When I first met her, she was pretty quiet but over time we've built a rapport. Now whenever she comes in, she asks me for suggestions. The (very good) problem is that she’s read more than me at this point and I’m just trying to keep up!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library!

In 2014, members of the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library can enjoy new discounts at local businesses. If you already renewed your annual membership or join this year, you’ll not only be supporting our amazing Cambridge libraries, but you’ll also get a discount at some of these library-loving local retailers. Show your 2014 Friends of the Cambridge Public Library sticker at the time of purchase to receive your discount (some restrictions may apply):

Clothware, 1773 Mass. Ave.
Follow the Honey, 1132 Mass. Ave.
Nomad Clothing and Accessories, 1741 Mass. Ave.
Royal Cleaners, 1105 Mass. Ave.
Cannondale Sports Store, 1001 Mass. Ave.
Professional Geeks, 1105 Mass. Ave.

Thank you to these local retailers for helping the Friends keep the library thriving through 2014. There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help support our Cambridge libraries, click here.