The new light-filled addition to the Cambridge Public Library is as inviting as a bookstore and as comfortable as a family room. Here, books are celebrated and in your face. Most are shelved the traditional way, but, as in a bookstore, many books are displayed with the cover facing forward.
The list of amenities goes on and on. Mammoth windows offer skyline views of Boston. Built-in window seats are perfect for curling up with a book. The colors and design of the plush rug in the children’s story room mimic a forest floor in autumn. Teens have a lounge of their own. The library has Wi-Fi and about 100 computers for patrons.
Thousands of Cambridge residents descended on the library when it reopened last Sunday. The line to check out books wound round and round, and the self-serve stations were in high demand. The building, on Broadway next to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, is well worth a visit.
In “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book’’ (Roaring Brook), leaders in art, literature, science, and business discuss the books that inspire them.
Ken Follett says the 141-word “Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit’’ by Beatrix Potter “still teaches me how to write.’’ Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak loves the Tom Swift Jr. series because Swift “represented the epitome of creative freedom, scientific knowledge, and the ability to find solutions to problems.’’ Sherman Alexie recalls “The Snowy Day’’ by Ezra Jack Keats as the first book he read that had a character with dark skin like his. It hooked him on reading. “I really think the age at which you find a book with which you truly identify determines the rest of your reading life,’’ he says.
Silvey will share stories from the book at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Porter Square Books in Cambridge.
Also in January, Barnes & Noble plans to close the last of its 50 B. Dalton Booksellers.
■ “Last Words: A Memoir,’’ by George Carlin (Free Press)
■ “The Art of a Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA,’’ by Chris Ballard (Simon & Schuster)
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com. 
