Main Library

The Main Library has shared a site in the geographic center of the city with the city's secondary schools since 1889. Although the high school(s) has gone through various changes throughout the last 107 years, the Main Library still sits as it did in the last century. The Main Library consists of two major facilities: a Van Brunt and Howe Richardsonian Romanesque building constructed in phases between 1889 and 1902, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places, as well as the Shepley Bulfinch wing built in 1967.

The Main Library is within an easy walk from Harvard Square, where bus service from the north and west terminate; on a direct bus line from East Cambridge; and a two block walk from the Central Square bus.

The majority of city residents live within a two mile radius of the Main Library,which is sited in the most densely populated neighborhood in the City. Despite the population density, the Main Library provides a setting which allows for outdoor reading, performances, concerts, and special children's events.