Blog: Month: September 2025

140th Celebration for the Converse Memorial Building and the Malden Public Library 10.8.25

Posted on by Cait Quinn

Come and celebrate the Malden Public Library’s 140th birthday on October 8 from 6-8pm! It will be a fun evening of music, history, reading, and food. From 6-7 will be a concert and talk titled “The Life and Music of Mary Parker Converse” in collaboration with Nightingale Vocal Ensemble. From 7:00-7:30 will be a “Read-A-Thon” where staff will read speeches and poetry from the 1885 dedication ceremony of the Converse Memorial Building. From 7:30-8:00 will be a reception for socializing, snacking, and enjoying the visual art on display at the library.

Spooky Paint by Numbers Night 10.14.25

Posted on by Cait Quinn

Ghosts, goblins, witches and ghouls…join Cait for a spooky night of color! This month we will be painting by numbers on haunted canvas. Each participant will select a pre-filled canvas with a spooky scene and follow the guide to fill in the colors. All supplies will be provided but space is limited. This is a craft night for older teens and adults. 16+

Register for this adult program at this link.

Movie Night: Wed., October 15th: 6:00-8:00pm

Posted on by Stacy Holder

Please join us for Movie Night on Wednesday, October 15, 2025: 6:00-8:00pm at the Malden Public Library. We will be showing a film about an AI robot named M3GAN 2.0. The film stars Allison Williams, Amie Donald, and Violet McGraw.

“Two years after M3GAN’s rampage, her creator, Gemma, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon who was built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN’s underlying tech.” Rated PG-13 (121 min.) (2025)

Free snacks will be provided. Movie times are approximate.

Movie Night is generously supported by The Friends Of The Malden Public Library.

YA Arts: Painted Mini Pumpkins

Posted on by Patrick Brennan

Young Adults in the 5th through 12th grade are invited to the MPL on October 21st at 3:00 PM to get spooky and paint some miniature pumpkins. Design a frightful decoration for this October or get creative and make whatever monstrous gourd you can come up with. This is a painting program so come with clothes that take take a splattering.

To sign up for the program please visit the link below for our online calendar:

https://maldenpubliclibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/ya-arts-pumpkin-painting/

Gallery Talk on Sept 19 – The Florida Highwaymen – A Legacy of Landscape Painting

Posted on by Dora St. Martin
Join us Friday, September 19th at 3pm. The Malden Public Library will present a gallery talk with Roger Lightle, owner of Highwaymen Art Specialists in Vero Beach, Florida.
The Highwaymen painters created careers as landscape painters against the backdrop of racially segregated Jim Crow Florida. Denied access to gallery representation and excluded from the mainstream art world, they sold their art works wherever they could—including out of the trunks of their cars parked on the side of the interstate. The Highwaymen artists depicted the state’s scenic coastline and wild backcountry, often in dazzling combinations of color and tone. Harold Newton was inducted into Florida’s Artist’s Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Smithsonian permanent collection in Washington D.C. 2016.
hile primarily self-taught, these artist’s works are very much part of the lineage of European and American landscape painting that stretches back to the nineteenth century. They learned the basic skills of landscape painting from the renowned artist A.E. “Beanie” Backus, who welcomed both Newton and Hair into his studio. The Highwaymen paintings follow in the legacy of other important landscape artists in Library’s collection, including Joseph MW Turner, Frederick Watts, George Innes, George Loring Brown, and Thomas Hill.
Following the program, light refreshments will be served. Malden Public Library’s Converse Memorial Building & Art Galleries, 36 Salem Street, Malden, MA. Gallery Hours, WED 2-4, SAT 2-3 or by appointment. Call 781-324-0218 or info@maldenpubliclibrary.org. This exhibition is made possible by the generous donations of John Giso and funds from the Estate of Wilfred J. Carr & the Trustees of the Malden Public Library.

YA Movie Matinee: Thursday, September 25th @ 3:00 PM

Posted on by Patrick Brennan

Young Adults in the 5th through 12th Grade are invited to the Malden Public Library to watch a movie, have some snacks and relax at the library  a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics original first family “The Fantastic Four”

Join us for this fun 4-colored film on Thursday September 25th from 3:00 – 5:00 PM. We will have snacks and light refreshments while they last. No sign up is required for this Rated PG-13 film.

Find Yourself in a Book Challenge 9.1.25-6.30.26

Posted on by Cait Quinn

Summer is over, the Autumn crush has started, and you may be feeling like reading for pleasure isn’t a priority right now. But reading for yourself should always be a priorty! And to give you a little encouragement MPL has set up a low stakes reading challenge.

Step 1: Log in or sign up to Beanstack either on the web or via the Beanstack Tracker app. (Make sure you are signed into Malden Public Library’s Challenge site. Don’t use Beanstack Go)

Step 2: Register for the “Find Yourself in a Book Challenge”

Step 3: Read (at least) one book a month that is strictly for you. Not a school book, something for work, not a side hustle. Just something you think you will enjoy.

Step 4: Collect a stamp from the library that shows you’ve completed the monthly reading. (Bookmarks available at Info and the Children’s desk, so you can log your stamps).

Step 5: Get a stamp for each month between September and June and qualify for a fun enamel pin to celebrate your accomplishment.

That’s it! Just at least one book a month. We know how hard it is to make a reading commitment sometimes. And also how easy it is to let free time slip away without using it to recharge. This challenge is here to combat that with a gentle nudge to do something wholly good for you. And to up the stakes just a little, we are adding a community goal of 10,000 books read by June. The hope is that all the other books you read each month will make their way into our stats and help us celebrate how spectacular our reading community really is. So lets make a commitment together to try to read at least a little bit every month, as a community. It will help inspire the busy library staff to keep up on their reading too, so do us a favor and sign up!

ART Community Mural Workshop 9.8.25

Posted on by Cait Quinn

You’re invited to join Roxbury muralist Dr. Rob “Problak” Gibbs, local artists, and A.R.T. in the collaborative process to create a new mural!

A.R.T.’s new home in Boston will feature a new piece of public art: a mural that reflects Boston’s residents and the future we envision together. The design process begins this fall at free workshop experiences co-led by Problak, celebrated local muralists, and members of A.R.T.’s Engagement team. No experience necessary to participate—just come ready to share stories about your past, present, and hopes for the future. The imagery and ideas sparked will help shape the mural’s design and help create something truly meaningful for everyone.

This program is gathering personal stories, shared values, cultural references, and community insights that will inform the concept, themes, and visual language of the mural at the new home of the American Repertory Theater in Allston. This workshop invites participants to share what makes their community feel like home, and how their stories can live on a wall that speaks to all of us.

The two-hour workshops are free and designed for all ages. Supplies and hospitality will be provided. All workshops are open to the public, but RSVPs are recommended.

https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/the-build-up-community-visioning-workshops/