A $90 million expansion and renovation of the library, led by the Boston architectural firms William Rawn Associates and Ann Beha Architects, opened on November 8, 2009.[3] The new addition more than triples the square footage of the building, and is the first building in the USA to make use of European Double-Skin Curtainwall technology. Architectural drawings and construction photos are available here. During most of the construction, the library collection had been relocated to the Longfellow School.[4]
Museum of Science Community Solar System
Prior to the renovation of the main library, the library was home to a scale model of the planetSaturn in the Boston Museum of Science's community-wide solar system model.[5] Saturn was located just outside the portion of the building that housed the old stacks, roughly where the computer workstation sign-in table is currently located. The Saturn model was packed up and shipped back to the Museum of Science and was not positioned at the reopened renovated library.[6] Other locations in Cambridge that still have models in the historic nine planet series are the Royal Sonesta Hotel (home of Earth) and the Cambridgeside Galleria mall (home of Mars).
History of Organization
The Cambridge Public Library developed out of the Cambridge Athenaeum, which was founded in 1849 as "a lyceum, public library, and reading room with a building on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Pleasant Street where Cambridge residents could borrow books at the cost of one dollar per year.
The City of Cambridge acquired the Cambridge Athenaeum in 1858 and renamed it the Dana Library for use as a city hall and a public library. By 1866 the Library moved to the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Temple Street. In 1874, the library became free to the public and was renamed the Cambridge Public. The main building of the Cambridge Public Library at 449 Broadway was built in 1888.
Branches
Six smaller neighborhood branch libraries are scattered throughout the City of Cambridge. These are:
Boudreau Branch, 245 Concord Avenue, West Cambridge
Central Square Branch, 45 Pearl Street, Cambridgeport
Collins Branch, 64 Aberdeen Avenue, West Cambridge
O'Connell Branch, 48 Sixth Street, East Cambridge
O'Neill Branch, 70 Rindge Avenue, North Cambridge
Valente Branch, 826 Cambridge Street, East Cambridge
List of databases
As of 2014 the library arranges for its patrons and staff access to digital content from several providers:[7]
^Grice, Noreen (September 7, 2006). "why does the world continually conspire to thwart me?". Chaerles Hayden Planetarium. Retrieved July 3, 2013. The Saturn model was brought back to the Museum of Science when the Cambridge library closed, and is currently in storage. Since the Saturn and Neptune models are not available, we revised the Community Solar System passport to give credit for those planets.((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameters: |deadurl= and |separator= (help)
^Cambridge Public Library. "Databases". City of Cambridge. Archived from the original on October 2014. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
