Our Impact

Since 1995, the Friends have funded the programs, passes, and staff support that the city and state budgets don't cover

Where the Money Goes

Over the last 5 fiscal years, we’ve donated $288k to the Cambridge Public Library.

Staff appreciation and professional development has been the single largest category, about half of all funding over the past five years, covering staff appreciation events and conference/travel fees.
Museum passes and library events round out the next-largest share, with MiFi hotspot lending and movie licensing funding two less-visible but concrete access programs: borrowable internet access for patrons without home Wi-Fi, and the licensing that lets the library legally screen movies for the community.

This past year (fiscal year ending 6/30/2026), we funded the following:

$20,268 for staff appreciation dinner, staff appreciation day, and staff conference & travel fees
$12,000 for museum passes — Boston Children's Museum, the MFA, the ICA, the Museum of African American History, the Trustees, and more
$5,136 for the summer reading program
$3,600 for library events

Friends volunteers also ran the Secret Gardens of Cambridge tour, one of our events that raises a large share of what makes this list possible.