Blog: Adult Program

Find Yourself in a Book Challenge 9.1.25-6.30.26

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!

Welcoming Week Movie Night: Wed., Sept. 17th: 6:00-8:00pm

Please join us for our Welcoming Week Movie Night on Wednesday, September 17, 2025: 6:00-8:00pm at the Malden Public Library.

We will be showing a “hidden gem” of a movie about Peace By Chocolate. “When a Syrian family flees civil war to small-town Canada, the son is torn between his dreams of becoming a doctor and helping his father rebuild his suddenly burgeoning chocolate business. Based on the incredible true story.” Not Rated, All Ages (96 min.) (2021)

Free snacks will be provided. Movie times are approximate.

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

Welcoming Week: September 12-21, 2025

Join us at the Malden Public Library for Welcoming Week on September 12-21, 2025. The theme for this year’s Welcoming Week is “Stories We Share.” Celebrated in communities around the globe, Welcoming Week is an annual campaign that connects neighbors of all backgrounds through community-informed activities and events. Welcoming Week provides communities the opportunity to publicly proclaim welcoming values, foster a mutual understanding between immigrants and non-immigrants, and build a deeper sense of belonging for all.

Throughout Welcoming Week we will provide information about local community organizations, including resources for English classes, food & housing information, job information, language learning, and more. We will also have some take & make craft kits for children and adults.

The Malden Public Library will have some resources and information for the Welcoming Week Kickoff which will be at Malden City Hall on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 215 Pleasant Street, City Hall Plaza. You can find out more information here: https://www.cityofmalden.org/1130/WELCOMING-WEEK-2025

On Tuesday, September 16, 2025 we will have a Story Time for children (ages 4-8) at 3:00pm and a “Take & Make” craft for children (ages 3+) at the Malden Public Library.

And don’t miss our Movie Night on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, from 6:00-8:00pm. We will be showing a “hidden gem” of a movie about Peace By Chocolate. “When a Syrian family flees civil war to small-town Canada, the son is torn between his dreams of becoming a doctor and helping his father rebuild his suddenly burgeoning chocolate business. Based on the incredible true story.” Not Rated, All Ages (96 min.) (2021) Free snacks will be provided and movie times are approximate.

This year on Saturday, September 20, 2025: 10:00-11:00am we will have our 3rd Annual “Coffee, Cookies, and Conversation” at the Malden Public Library. Meet your neighbors in a relaxed environment for a cup of coffee and great conversation! The Welcoming Week theme this year is “Stories We Share.”

All events are co-sponsored by The Friends of the Malden Public Library.

 

Summer Reading Ending Soon!

This is not a drill! Summer session is ending soon. We have just two more weeks of prizes before we wrap up our summer reading program and move onto the Fall season. Minutes must be submitted before August 31st and prizes must be picked up before September 1st. Also the week 8 prize in this year’s summer reading iron on patch. It is an exclusive MPL design and the most fashionable accessory of the year.

Stil need to sign up? You can back date all your minutes for the summer and collect prizes now before we run out. (We have supplemental prizes for the weeks that have run out, so don’t worry). To add to our minutes and help us reach our goal of 600,000 hours read as a community log in or set up your Beanstack account. It is the Beanstack Tracker app on mobile or use this link to get to the website. bit.ly/BeanstackMPL

Mind Your Business! A Local History Game

TONIGHT! Malden Public Library and Malden Chamber of Commerce is hosting ‘Mind Your Business: a logo guessing game’ on August 11, 6-8pm, in the library’s historic Converse Memorial Building. Participants will guess edited logos of local businesses for a chance to win prizes! It will be a fun night, so be sure to register using the QR code, or at: bit.ly/lh-myb
This is a recreation of a game that Mary Caroline (Parker) Converse devised in 1896. On December 31st of the same year, Malden Evening News describes the event: “Mrs. Converse had prepared a large number of popular advertisements, such as are seen in newspapers and in street cars, and had omitted the advertiser’s name. The game was to guess the advertiser.” She hosted this game for her Malden High School peers with whom she graduated four years earlier.
Converse had varied interests. In addition to creating the clever game mentioned above, she was a sea captain and composer. Her nautical passion began in her early adult years when she and her husband, Harry Converse (son of Elisha Converse), would sail on their personal ship, Penelope. She would pursue this further to become the first woman awarded a government issued ship navigating license and the first woman commissioned by the United States Merchant Marine.
Mary Parker Converse was also one of Malden’s notable musicians. She was a vocalist, pianist, and composer, and, in January of 1910, she demonstrated all three of these talents in one performance. Converse sang (while accompanying herself on piano) her ‘Wonder Songs’ for an audience in Boston. ‘Wonder Songs’ is a collection of tunes for children. The score is unique in that it is illustrated, much like a children’s book. She was involved with several other local concerts and served on the ‘Committee on Musical Exercises’ for Malden’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Please join us in celebrating Malden’s rich history and industry in this fun game on August 11, 6-8pm, at the Malden Public Library!

Mystery Making with Sisters in Crime New England

Tuesday, Aug. 5th from 7-8pm, join us at the library for MYSTERY MAKING with Sisters in Crime New England! In this fun, fast-paced improv game, authors Susan Cory, Toni L.P. Kelner, and John Nardizzi will brainstorm on their feet to create a brand new mystery, using suggestions from the audience! WAS it the butler? It could be up to you!

With “Sisters in Crime New England“.

MEET YOUR AUTHORS:

SUSAN CORY was an award-winning residential architect in Cambridge, MA before she retired to write mysteries full time. She earned a brown belt in karate and visited 100 countries along the way. Her mystery series, beginning with Conundrum, features Iris Reid, also a Cambridge architect, as an amateur sleuth trying to uncover a murderer at her Harvard reunion. Susan found inspiration for starting this series at her own 20th architecture school reunion, not that anyone was killed then. That she knows of.

Her seven books in the series have won praise from Kirkus who calls her sleuth “an appealing and believable hero” with supporting characters who are “outstanding” and “hone this remarkable story.” “Cory gleefully breezes through subplots and twists with a resourceful protagonist at the helm.”

Her 8th book in the series, The Forger’s Daughter, is due out in August 2025.

TONI L.P. KELNER is two authors in one. As Leigh Perry, she writes the Family Skeleton series featuring a walking, talking skeleton named Sid. The series debuted with A Skeleton in the Family. As Toni L.P. Kelner, she’s the author of the eight Laura Fleming mysteries and the three books in the “Where are they now?” series. She also co-edited seven urban fantasy anthologies with NYT bestseller Charlaine Harris. In between novels and anthologies–and under both names–she writes short stories about pirates, PIs, serial killers, zombies, and demonic phone calls. A dozen of her stories were recently collected in her most recent book, The Skeleton Rides a Horse and Other Stories, from Crippen & Landru Publishers. Toni and/or Leigh have been nominated multiple times for the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Derringer, and she has won an Agatha Award for Best Short Story and an RT BOOKreview Career Achievement Award. Her short story “Baby Trap” was selected for the anthology Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024, edited by S.A. Cosby and Steph Cha.

JOHN NARDIZZI is an award-winning writer and investigator. His crime novels have won praise for crackling dialogue and pithy observations of detective work. THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE earned a 2022 Shamus Award nomination for Best PI Paperback. He speaks and writes about investigations in numerous settings, including World Association of Detectives, Lawyers Weekly, Pursuit Magazine and PI Magazine. His work on innocence cases led to the exoneration Gary Cifizzari and James Watson (he was awarded the Arc of Justice for the Watson case in 2021), as well as million dollar settlements for clients Dennis Maher and the estate of Kenneth Waters, whose story was featured in the film Conviction. Prior to his PI career, he failed to hold any restaurant job for longer than a week. He lives near Boston, Massachusetts.

Happy Little Trees: A gently guided paint night 8.7.25

Join Cait in the program room on Thursday August 7th at 6pm for some light refreshments and a refreshing paint night. Paint along with everyone’s favorite PBS painter and make some happy little trees and maybe a big ol’ rock. Materials will be provided so space is limited. Registration is required. You can sign up at the link: https://bit.ly/Happy-little-trees-MPL or call the library to be added to the list.
Prior painting skills are not required. In fact, Cait can’t paint at all. So plan to laugh along and learn through the magic art of trial, error, and happy accidents.

Housing Assistance Drop-In Hours

Free legal assistance for those with housing concerns, no appointment necessary! Just come by the Malden Public Library between 10am-12pm to speak with an attorney about eviction, financial assistance, affordable housing, etc. Brought to you by the Malden Office of Housing Stability, and held on the 4th Wednesday of every month in Study Room 1. If you have questions, please reach out to (781) 322-9119 ext. 146, or email housingstability@cityofmalden.org.

Summer Movie Night: Wed., July 16th: 6:00-8:00pm

Please join us for Movie Night on Wednesday, July 16, 2025: 6:00-8:00pm at the Malden Public Library. We will be showing a recent comedy starring, Keke Palmer and Sza, who are having One Of Them Days.

“When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.” Rated R (97 min.) (2025) 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Free snacks will be provided. Movie times are approximate.

Ice Cream Social Thursday June 26th 1-2:30pm

It’s that time of year again. Summer reading is starting and to celebrate we are kicking off with Dairy Delight. Join the library on Thursday, June 26th from 1-2:30pm for ice cream on the front lawn (rain location to be announced day of). For the party we’ll have games, music, books, and of course ice cream. To get ready we ask that anyone who is able, please sign up on Beanstack for your summer reading challenges. And don’t worry, for less technology inclined folks we will have librarians available to help you sign up and get your summer started. To register please use our Beanstack link: bit.ly/BeanstackMPL

And if you can’t make it we still want to support your summer progress. Sign up via the Beanstack app, webpage, one of our library sign up stations, or in person at the info or children’s desks. We have a lot of tasty prizes for kids and teens this summer. And for adults who read their weekly goal we have a prize raffle for fun gift certificates to our favorite community partners. Don’t miss out this summer it is going to be tons of fun!