Super cute library- It's bright, has a lot of desks (!!!) also has a gorgeous reading room. Sort of close to the Red Line.. I visited for the first time recently and I liked it!! :) read more

The Hive, audiobooks, DVDs/blue rays, and of course books, there's nothing this library does not have. Staff is always so kind and friendly too. Lots of fun events/classes to check out! read more

Three hours here and it was quiet and peaceful and I got a ton of stuff done. Huge collection of fiction and non-fiction, the reference section looks awesome and there's a separate area for kids. I found a quiet table that had power outlets and got right onto their unfiltered wifi with no issues. There are areas in the library where food and drinks are permitted. I watched a dude bring his own can opener and go through a can of Hormel Chili followed by another tin of kippered snacks. Yep, really. Other than that one bit of interesting food, the library was an excellent place to spend a couple of hours. [Review 10119 overall, 1705 of 2018.] read more

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Cambridge Public Library is truly one of the best public libraries ever known, ever visited, ever loved. And let me tell you: I have been a member of New York Public Library, DC Public Library, Boston Public Library; I have visited and browsed catalogs for Chicago Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library. And not one comes close to Cambridge Public Library. Here the library has it all: charisma, charm, heft, pomp, heart, book. For every need. One can come to Cambridge Public Library to get discounted museum tickets or simply release one's waste in the lovely restrooms. One can find a book or use a computer. And of course, lest we forget!, the printer. A secret only to the ignoramuses of the town, Cambridge Public Library offers patrons a daily printing quota. Why destroy your finances at a UPS or Fedex store when you can print up to 25 pages for free daily at the library? It is absolutely and utterly nonsensical to do anything else. And of course the Minuteman Library Network, of which Cambridge Public Library is part and parcel, has a wide range of materials across all breeds of fictions and non-fictions, foreign language content, and more. And the space at Cambridge Public Library is also lovely, with plenty of natural light and space to sit and study and think and question it all. read more

A beautiful public library with plenty of natural lights and study tables/space! Getting a library card is super easy, just display your ID card with a local address. There are self-service check-out computers where you can easily borrow books. The stacks are mostly clearly labeled, and most books are easy to find. The furniture also looks​ pretty new. The staff members are of course very helpful and friendly. They open seven days a week between September and June. They ​are closed on Sundays in July and August. read more

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This is a beautiful library with a very large selection of everything you may ever want! - There is a large lawn in front, and during the warmer months there are definitely a lot of people enjoying the weather. - Indoors, there are a variety of reading nooks that you can find. I suggest walking around until you find space that you like. - There is a dedicated section for large print books (for visually impaired), as well as a dedicated area for teens. - The staff are incredibly nice, and there is a self check out area to save time. read more

Biggest and best library ever 1 children's room books of all kinds definitely a daily library Statistics Good for kids - yes Good for groups - yes Location - mid Cambridge Health stat - very healthy Company - the city of Cambridge Price - free Type - library read more

Super duper kind staff, huge library, and great location! So fun to sit outside on the grass in the warmer months and soooo much room inside in the colder months to study! read more

I love this library but the staff at the front desk are so loud! There is one woman who literally projects her voice in a way that the entire first floor can hear her, It felt like a scene off of practical jokers. I get that there is a protective glass now but you do not have to yell we can hear you all. Then you have the teens that come in and they are as loud as the people at the front desk! What happened to indoor voices/ library? read more

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful main public library (and system of libraries) in Cambridge. I cannot say enough about how great CPL is. They put on a lot of free interesting programs, author talks and educational events for the public. There's a great selection of books, DVDs, music and more! The staff is always very friendly and helpful. It is always busy which makes me very happy! I'm glad people of all walks of life are using our library. It is such an invaluable treasure that we have for all to use. If CPL doesn't have a particular item in stock, they are part of the Minuteman Library system so you can usually get it from another library in the system that will deliver it to CPL. Please visit CPL sometime. You will love it! read more

It is reopening on November 8th and it is gorgeous! I know because I went to the grand opening party. It is LEED certified with beautiful bamboo floors and all kinds of cool eco features. It has meeting rooms, a story hour room, an auditorium, a history room, community gathering space, family bathrooms, and just about everything else you could imagine. There is a playground outside and tennis courts abutting the building on one side. I will have to rewrite this review later after I have been able to explore more of the building but I wanted to get this up so that people will know to go check it out! It's a librarian's dream!!! And by the look of all of the happy glowing faces around me at the grand opening, I gather it is a pretty huge and long-awaited event in Cambridge history as well. It is walking distance from Harvard or Central Square--check it out for yourself! read more

Cambridge Public Library - Libraries Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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I acted a fool in this library. There was so much to see and do! DVDs for the illiterate, picture books for children [their illiteracy is socially acceptable, the bums], large print for the folks who can read but can't see - everything! I was really happy to find out that Central Square wasn't my only option in the area. They have an amazing Classics section for the old-school lovers - Sophocles' Theban Plays, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripedes - ah, good times. They even have books on exercises for violin players. I went home with a bunch of dvds, a cd of Jascha Heifetz's performances, and a ton of books. The librarians are very helpful too - always a plus. I just wish that pizza shop across the street had been open. Great thought requires sustenance, folks! read more

Cambridge Public Library - Libraries Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Is it just me or does anyone else also unwittingly think of the word "mothership" with a heart full of eager anticipation every time they walk in? This impressive library is composed of two wings- one that is a very modern space full of light from the abundance of windows and the other is more traditional, with a Harry-Potter-esque, cavernous feel but both equally beautiful. This library has everything and I could browse endlessly. As a preschool teacher, the children's books area in particular is spectacular- a wonderland, a playground (sometimes quite literally with all the children running around), and I never leave empty-handed, far from it! Another wonderful thing about this library is that we were able to easily arrange for a librarian to come to our preschool a couple times a month to read to our kids- she even so graciously helps me lug some of my books back to the library when it's time to return them! Sections are well-labeled, parking is unusually affordable, and they even have an "express lane" self-checkout option that is so convenient and remarkably easy to use. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this beautiful library full of seemingly endless resources and a range of environments to enjoy them in- it literally is as good as it gets! read more

Cambridge Public Library - (Unusually Affordable) Parking Rates - Libraries Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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A year and some months later I am about to graduate grad school and I'm still perfecting my thesis. They are open 1-5pm on Sunday during the winter. I love this branch. The quiet floor is the 2nd floor. There is a quiet room behind the reference section, but its so quiet that no electronices are allowed. It fits up to 7 people, but you can't work with anyone in there. I think its solely for reading/writing aka the stone ages. I want to use this room because I sometimes get distracted easily....but that's fine, I still adore this branch. read more

Come for the free air conditioning, stay for the books! This is a really beautiful, clean library with lots of desk space and natural light. It can be a bit noisy on the first floor/mezzanine, but the second floor is always pretty quiet. It's nice that there are different volume levels to suit people's study preferences. It gets crowded around noon, so come early if you want your choice of a study spot! read more

As long as you do not have to interact with anyone that works at the library, it's a good place to study/do work. Others have mentioned how rude the staff is and they are absolutely right. They will let you stand in front of their desk for a couple minutes before they acknowledge your presence. A group of us we were waiting in the cold before the library opened, some for over half an hour, and we tried to step inside to the first enclosed area before the main entrance doors and were scolded to go back outside because the library didn't open for another 8 minutes. Isn't this a public library run by taxpayers' money? You can't even let people wait inside the enclosed area in 20 degree weather? Ooof and don't get me started on the dirty looks we all received when they finally let us in, we had a good laugh about it upstairs. Pathetic read more

I was checking out books in the teen room with my wife for our 2 sons at home. I put my belongings on the bench, plugged in my dying cell phone and pre Offered to go and look at books to pick out. Before I could even get up, this old angry man(had to be at least 60) with grey/white hair had told me that this is a teen only room and that he demanded that I leave. Trust me, I will never be back to this location. He was rude and very impolite. I'm going to go and report him to his superiors. He came at me like I'm a piece of shit. He should be suspended, I can't get my mind off of it, I think I'm going to go to the mayor's office at city hall. This guy needs to learn a lesson on how to properly speak to people. read more

Remember those musty elementary school days of searching aisle after aisle at your public library? Checking out books by writing your name, on an index card inside? Now you can get a library card.. FREE! and get to relive those days all over again. The best part for me is the 5 DVD's you can rent a week. So, if you always wanted to watch 8 hours of BBC's Tolstoy masterpieces... Anna Karenina.. sniff. Here's your place. They also have somewhat recent films, foreign language films (in foreign languages), and lots of sciency type videos. read more

Cambridge Public Library - Libraries Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Such a pretty library! Huge glass windows, a "glass" and "stone" section, and brightly lit aisles and aisles of books. The staff takes its job very seriously (this is Cambridge after all). Be sure to avoid the high schoolers during afterschool hours. One detriment: the fiction section is hidden in the basement area, and seems to be somewhat smaller than it could be. I think this is because the minuteman network allows for interborrowing, so perhaps the conglomerated collection is much larger than what it seems. read more

I came in on Sunday it was very busy. There wasn't any were to sit so I sat at teenage table. I tough I was ok because the place was really busy and I needed to use an outlet and there was a mom and child there no teenagers. One of librarians asked me to move. I said ok I need an outlet. She said there was one of the rooms she asked me to go in she show me then I plug up and the outlet didn't work it suck the battery out of my device. read more

Library seems okay as a workspace. Free public libraries are always a positive. Staff a bit rude here, some strange rules

One of the librarians is very rude. My wife and I will never go to this library again. What else can I say? The Boston library is much better. What a rude librarian. The books are great. The staff is horrible. The architecture is great. The staff is horrible. The space is great. The staff is horrible. The staff at the BPL is much better. What else can we say. What's the worst library that you can imagine? This is it. The librarian is horrible. I wish I could remember her name. read more

One of the best public libraries I've ever been to (and I am that dork who visits every town's library when I pass through, seriously). What a great building, with plenty of study room and books. To the reviewers who complained about noise, teens, and food being allowed in the library: sure, it gets loud - and yes, it's sometimes hard to find desks - but this is what it looks like when a community effectively uses its space! #civiclife4lyfe (and while you are probably now going to complain about hashtag usage on Yelp, I read about this literary device called ironic usage while I was in the library once, and it stuck with me). Thanks to the staff and patrons, the library is clean and free of crumbs. I've crossed the bridge over here to come at all hours of the day, and while it can take some time to find a seat, I haven't been shut out. And if you want true quiet, you could go to the second floor's quiet reading room (no cell phones or computers...although let's be real, the library's wifi is pretty fast). Also on the second floor: individual study desks, all of them benefiting from the light coming from the floor to ceiling windows (sometimes it can be a little bright in the afternoons, so just make a stack of books next to your desk for shade). Ground and first floor allow food and drinks: the right side is nice for group projects (and gives you easy browsing access to new books), while the left side looks is a classic old-school reading room. (By the way, have I said how beautiful this building is?) The children's 3rd floor is Curious George themed. The bathrooms are generally clean and I appreciate that you don't need to open a door to enter (say no to germs, everybody). Because it's tied to the Minuteman system (and because they are one of the better stocked Minuteman libraries), it's very rare for the CPL to not get access to a specific book -- and because they order so many, you can get bestsellers relatively quickly. The volunteers and staff are great. It's no exaggeration to say that a strong public library system changed my life, so three cheers for the CPL and the work that they do! read more

Wow - really amazing public library. Beautiful, bright, open and modern space. + computers & printers + super cheap parking (small lot though) + patio! Yay! Lastly, they partner with other area libraries which is a nice perk. read more

Super WOW. Hands down, this library is the best I've ever been to. Clean, shiny, new, with underground parking for $1 an hour... I think I've fallen in love with an amazing building, all the books inside, and the trippy nature-themed decor. Add in the quiet bookworms, the great lawn out front, the adjacent playground, and the abundance of self check out stations.... This is where I would get married, if I had to do it all over again. The kids section is really outstanding. Oops, did I say section? I meant ENTIRE FLOOR. Awesome public programs every week for the kiddos, with enthusiastic librarians wielding guitars and singing with good to great voices, ample seating for adults... the list goes on. On the 3rd floor, there are plenty of nooks to curls up in with your kid (bean bags, chairs, benches, tables), many internet terminals, sections of poetry, picture books, graphic novels, teen lit... This is amazing. PLUS, you get to ride up to the third floor in AN ELEVATOR. read more

I like how the new library is spacious, lets in a lot of natural light and looks clean and modern, but I think the most important aspect about a library is lacking here: a large selection of books. Like Hubert H. mentioned, the fiction section is in the basement, which feels a bit abandoned. It seems like they spent the most time designing the rest of the building while the basement was completely ignored. But most importantly, there aren't a whole lot of books down there. There was a single computer where you could stand and look up a book in the online catalog, but the system wasn't working at the time. I asked a staff member about a book, and he said they didn't even carry it there, and that I could reserve it and pick it up at whatever library I wanted a little later on. Although the interborrowing system seems pretty smooth, I'd really like to have the books I want actually -there- so I could sit and browse through them a bit. There's parking in an underground garage whose entrance is on Broadway, $0.25 for 15 min. read more

I LOVE this new building--it's airy, comfortable and easily accessible with its own parking garage--the cheapest in Harvard Sq, btw!!! This library embodies what I can only assume is a new philosophy about libraries--that they should be lively, energetic places for lively, energetic intellectual pursuits. Rather than the dark and forbidding libraries of old, complete with their own scary old crone of a librarian, the Cambridge library is full of people reading, working on computers, working together in small groups. Patrons are allowed to talk quietly anywhere in the library except the quiet study area. After school high schoolers are sprawled out in the snack area, joking with their friends and doing homework. Wonderful! Please don't confuse this description with one describing noisy, disruptive chaos; this library is none of those things--it just is not the cemetery/library of old. read more

I really love working here! except... the internet is so weird here! I'll connect to it via wifi, and then all of a sudden it'll cut out.. like every 30 minutes or so. And I'd have to reset the wifi on my mac to be able to get on it again... Kind of inconvenient for a library! First world problems, I guess.. But other than that, this place is beautiful. I love how there are different areas to work in, which have been thoughtfully been sectioned out based on your work-style. Want to eat and study and don't mind too much noise? Stay on the first floor. Want to work outside, or feel like you're working outside? Grab a seat in the hallway that connects the lobby to the children's section. Want SERIOUS quietness and don't mind about not eating food or even drinking your water? Go upstairs in the research section. Want to just read and not deal with kids and their technologies? There are specific rooms on the second floor devoted to you folk that don't like to be around technology. The only other annoying things about this place (besides the intermittent wifi) is the amount of kids that come in to hang out after school. It's because the public school is right next door. Also, the library isn't open that late for college kids who want to work late, but then that's when you move to a Starbucks or the Harvard Law Library. read more

OK, I'm going to be the dissenter here, but I'm only going with 3 stars because I haven't used the library's borrowing, however as someone who has used the Minuteman system in the past, I know it's useful. So they can have some points for that. Now, onto the library itself: So the pretty new addition may be large and architectural interesting and beautiful. However, I had come to the library on this particular occasion in search of a place for distraction free work. I was sorely disappointed. I though libraries were place for study, quiet repose, reading, learning, etc. How wrong I was! The atmosphere was more Starbucks sans coffee than library. I was lucky to get a seat; the reading room was packed cheek to jowl and is TINY. And while I did find a seat, the entire 2 1/2 hours I was there I had to listen to children screaming and conversations both in person and over the phone. I think if the music was turned off, Barnes and Noble would be quieter. Something about books and studious environments seems to make most people quiet, but not at the Cambridge Public Library, apparently. And it's a shame. Luckily for me, I work near the BPL, where even if the reading room smells like bums, at least they're quiet! read more

Beautiful building, friendly librarians and a truly impressive body of works. The second floor silent research room is a gem all to itself.

All the other reviews for this Library are best to be ignored as they are for the Temporary Site that the library was in before the Main Library reopened after years of construction. The new library with its mixture of old and new construction is quite large, and looks like it has plenty of growth space.... too much right now as the collection itself is much smaller than that of some other area libraries it is compared to by the staff, like the one in Watertown. They have only recent reopened and are not yet at 100% planned operations. I'm hoping over the next month they will do things like open up the stairs (currently roped off as varnish is still drying on the wood), get the intermittent Public Wireless Internet working throughout the building (it crashes randomly right now and has 'dead spots'), get the 'Cafe' vending machines actually in (a wall of bare sockets do not help if one wants something to snack on), etc. I really think they should have studied other modern libraries, like the new one in Seattle. If you're going to put a cafe area in, put a CAFE in, not vending machines. Like with a person, and coffee etc. Thats what Seattle libraries (both the public libraries and the University ones) have. The Reading Collection appears to be drastically diminished in size from what it was 10 years ago when I move here. They need to seriously beef up the collection and build up a decent back catalog of books. Right now they have about as many as the old Wordsworth Store did when it was at its height, which is way too few. Same can be said for the DVD selection collection and the music area. They also might want to invest in the concept of some public carols/study stations where folks could use items with headphones while in the library rather than checking things out. More time and effort should have been spent working with MIT, for example, to get a feel fo where technology leading edge is as applied to library sciences and multimedia access. The Bathrooms without doors are a problem waiting to happen. They are small and sound carried to/from them to the hallway and into the library proper without doors. This library cost us, the residents of the city, a pretty penny. $900 per square foot of the place (or $90 Million total, with 10 million from the state and the rest out of the taxpayers pockets. A 30 million dollar overrun from the original cost budgeted). Thats four and half times the average cost (around $200 per sq. ft.) for college buildings in Boston in 2009. I'm also peeved that during the construction they evidently destroyed ALL the cherry trees that once were part of the landscaping of the grounds, which had been a gift from the Emperor of Japan to the city many years ago. I have hopes that it will get better, and that it can be improved upon to suit the needs of the folks who have paid for it, but right now it feels like they rushed to get it open and are like a college student that waited until the last moment to move into new off campus housing. Unpacked, disorganized, enthusiastic and a bit confused mentally about what to do with itself. read more

Very relaxing spot. Tons of magazines, newspapers, DVDs and other reading material to choose from. Comfortable seating, patio area. What else could you ask for ? This place is great. read more

I recently felt compelled to give the Main Library some UK inspired booyakasha... -- Crushing on Cantabrigia for its wikkid renovations to their athenaeum, courtesy of my main man Ali G: "Flicky-flicky Broadway public library. Big it up for da People's Republic of Cambridge. Respek." -- You'll go from zero to study in as little as 0-2-1-3 or 8 seconds flat at this Broadway and Trowbridge crosswalk of learning where jay walking will earn you a ride in the back seat of the reference wing, behind shelves laced with a lexicon of impenetrable trellises bearing the iron clad letters penned into place by Three evil Sisters, welding iflexible iron boxes built with impenetratable prose of Poe, prophesizing a return to the ravens nest built with branches of linguistic truisms tried and true by Chompsky and his army of animalia. If caught by the keen cream colored eyes of a divorce ----convicted of failure to return your backpack of right to ride in the reference arrestable offense carrying a mandatory minimum of life of a prescient prisoner in the Department of Grammatical Corrections, without parole. Passing through the doubled up doors will gas up your brain synapses like a Jersey full service station. Settle into an arm chair and buckle up before revving your engine and merging onto the interstate highway of language, suggested speed limits easily overtake the played out young adult vampire fiction velocities you'd find on the Bundesautobahn. With your left turn signal beating like a tell tale heart, bibliophiles pass in luxury lanes only rivaled in width by Kramer's adopted roadway. Swerving in and out of the Faustian phrases and amber alerts filled with existential allegory. Entering and exiting tunnels built into a mountainside of secondary sources while rebelliously straddling solid white dividers. Rubber necking the burning frames of neons and cavaliers, wreckage left in the breakdown lane with a whimsical professorial wrestler. Walt Whitman of the nineteenth Transcending realism like in two dimensions like the wreckage of Walt Whitman, owner of a shovel designed by David and digging beneath the surface of wordly wisdom, zooming by the kilometer markers like telephone posts on a country road, the throttle pushed against the floor, smoking like an overused library card. You'll be steering with your knees, and simultaneously reading Kafka and Kristoff. The verbose badge wearing librarians will salute your increasing velocity, oh yes...you'll be speeding on the Pike-Q highway like a mensa member. Walls of windows suck in and out waves of guilt like a harvest moon, crashing into the stacks and pulling me into the sentimental rip-current drowning out autumn's warm breezes with warp speed. It is semi shameful to be sitting inside during the last days of salvation before the deep freeze sits in. I dont think feel like I'm wasting the day...sacrificing sunlight for air con and wifi. The desks are far from any ikea particle board. Thick slabs of honey veined trunks, big enough for you (and me) to settle in, and spread out the knowledge. The aquarium style study rooms are the perfect couples setting, allowing momentary immature gigglefests fading in and out...drowned out by some classic pandora study jams rolling through my macbook speakers as if the concertos were meant to fly by the highway of readin' like an 18-wheeler on I-40. Props to C-bridge for boycotting the anti-book revolution and declining to join the great public blackmail scandal of 2010. Threatening to close a mecca, dropping knowledge on the homeless and Harvardites among us in the 02138. No malicious intent, but I'd remiss not to call out the unworthy towns in the great state of Massacademia, clearly in cohoots with comcast to encourage watching Seacrest instead of reading Salinger (coughcharlestowncoughcough). Legit dedicated to learning...showing my love one last time, word up to the People's, the English, and the chapter books...for real, word up to words. Keep it real Main Library you are indahouse with good company -- the jigga, philosopher king Ali G shares your motto..."you wanna know 'ow I make diz country bettah? Iz simple, two words: keep it real!" Books. I'd give the double respek...but minus two 'orses for slow internet connects, time limits in the aquarium room, and a book selection not worthy of 02138's phd to person ratio. read more

What do you imagine when you hear the word "library"? Is it yelling and Skittles? I hope so. Don't come to the CPL with the expectation of quiet. That's definitely not the atmosphere they're going for. Each level has its own clamoring ecosystem similar to a high school cafeteria. L1 even had that gross vending machine smell from open bags of Doritos and cans of fruit punch. Why is there food here? Why is everyone talking so loudly? Is nothing sacred? If only they brought on some stern, old-fashioned shushing librarians, this would be a pretty good place to do library stuff like read/study/think. Kids these days, amirite? read more

It cannot be understated that this is a world class library, an essential, amazingly valuable asset to greater Boston, to Massachusetts, and to the entire United States of America. A great place to spend as much time as possible in... so well designed, so many excellent books, great staff. Visit this and the main Boston Public Library (the Central Library in Copley Square) both, do not simply go to one or the other. This institution can save you or your family's life, it can raise you or your family up from poverty. It can help keep you from being suckered. It is the treasure you think you are looking for but perceive it to be in all of the wrong places. The treasure of the most value besides friends, health, and family is not under ground, not in the sea... it is in this building, it is knowledge. It is just barely within your grasp, waiting for you. read more

I might write two reviews so that I can give the CPL 10 stars. I have worked in/lived near Cambridge for 15+ years and have been a regular visitor of the CPL in all of that time. I remember the library prior to the renovation and was pleased that they kept a portion of the former structure in the new design. It is the perfect fit for Cambridge: a historic front portion mixed with a new, open design. As far as local libraries, it is definitely my favorite, with a large selection of books, spread out over multiple floors. There is plenty of space for research and quiet reading as well as small meetings. The kids floor (top) is pretty stellar too, with painted ceilings and the Curious George room. They also have a solid selection of dvd's and music on the lobby floor. I've always found the staff to be helpful as well as knowledgable. I can't spend enough time here. read more

Cantabrigians, rejoice! The public library is open and it's just so magnificent. I'm so impressed by how the space has been transformed (I particularly love the teen room which is just a really nice hang-out space, and the community meeting/gathering rooms). What makes me happiest, though, is that every time I have walked into the library, there's a good crowd, and everyone seems to admire this new space. What I also like is that the library has stocked up on popular materials. Remember when the library annex was open further down on Broadway and they had one small shelf of DVDs which was almost always nearly empty? The new library is well-stocked with DVDs, and they seem to have a good sense of the pulse of the community- there's a nice mix of family flicks, foreign and indie, documentaries, and classics. Nice job, Cambridge. This is such a tremendous accomplishment. read more

I love this library. I love walking to this library. I love being in this library. It's so beautiful. And. So. Full.! Huge selection. Bright airy spaces. And the librarians are so knowledgeable and helpful (at least the ones in the teens section). I also like how convenient it is, putting books on hold and getting books from other Boston libraries delivered to the Cambridge branch. wheeoo! read more

This review is for the main branch, and oh, what a wonderful public resource! The librarians here are so helpful and approachable. There are plenty of computers to chose from, amazing options for single or group seating, and plugs everywhere for power access. It's fun just to walk around and look at the interesting architecture throughout the joined buildings. You don't need to be a resident or show any identification to come in and use the basic services, as well as the bathroom and water fountains. Signing up for a card with a local Cambridge address took me about two minutes, one piece of paper to sign, and I was checking out books within the hour. Free public WiFi, requiring no password. Very, very clean and handicap accessible throughout. The self-checkout makes it super quick to get out the door, with a receipt to tell you exactly when you'll need to return. I've been to many libraries, in various cities and countries - and feel so lucky that this is close. Much care and design were put into these facilities, and it shows! read more

I have no idea why it took me so long to actually come here. I've heard great things - lots of places to study, free wi-fi etc etc - but I just never schlepped myself down. First off all, it's pretty. Second, you can bring drinks and food into a lot of the rooms, which is awesome when you're studying for a bazillion hours straight and need candy/coffee. Third, they have a graphic novels sections. This is awesome because I'm poor and can't afford to purchase every $30 comic I want that only takes me 2 hours to read. Bad (ish) stuff is that their cookbooks section is weirdly set up so it took me a long time to find what I was looking for. Although I guess I could have asked a librarian, so nevermind. Also at about 2:45 the high school next door lets out and the place gets temporarily loud. But whatever. If I had hung out at the library after school instead of a parking lot maybe I would have been better off. Good for you, kids. read more