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.