Maria McCauley
Director, Cambridge Public Library
Dr. Maria McCauley is Director of Libraries for the City of
Cambridge. She leads a team of 150 talented staff members and
works closely with three boards and across the city to achieve an
inclusive, ambitious vision of library services for all. Under
her leadership, the Cambridge Public Library (CPL) has expanded
its branch hours by 54+ hours per week, opened the award-winning
Net Zero Valente Branch library, and launched a STEAM at the
Library program including the first free public maker space in
Cambridge. Maria has also eliminated fines, led an opt-in
kindergarten library card campaign, which resulted in a 95%
registration rate, started a social work program, deepened the
reach of the library’s digital equity work, and prioritized the
library’s antiracism, equity and inclusion efforts.
Maria began her library career years ago at CPL in Circulation
and Reference Services. Before returning to Cambridge, she served
as the Director of Libraries in Santa Monica, Director of
Libraries for the City of Somerville, and held several library
positions at Northeastern University. She earned a Bachelor of
Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University, a Master of Library and
Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD
from Simmons. She is Past President of the Public Library
Association, a division of the American Library Association
(ALA). She served on the ALA’s Executive Board and is on the
Board of Advisors of Beacon Press.
As a member of ALA’s Committee on Legislation, she represents
Massachusetts in legislative fly-ins to articulate funding and
legislative asks to Congress. She also advocates for funding for
libraries and legislation on the state level. Maria has advocated
for the freedom to read on NBC10 Boston and submitted written
testimony in support of intellectual freedom and libraries. In
2024, she participated in an Emergency Connectivity Fund
Roundtable with the FCC and Senator Ed Markey.
Maria is global thought leader in the library leadership space.
She has spoken on topics such as the evolving role of libraries,
advancing inclusiveness, intellectual freedom, and courage and
leadership, for audiences in Massachusetts, across the United
States, and internationally, including Spain, South Korea,
Kazakhstan, South Africa, and more.
Maria has two super great kids and running-scientist spouse, and
they can often be found biking to get ice-cream and visiting
their favorite libraries and bookstores in Cambridge and
Somerville, Massachusetts.