The Malden Public Library will be closed on Monday, October 14th in honor of Colombus Day. We will reopen at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 15.

Jen Moltoni is a collage/mixed media artist and painter, she draws inspiration from her numerous trips to beaches throughout New England.  Her process is simple — she paints with acrylics, gouache and watercolor on various weights and types of paper — finding joy in the swirling of colors.  Then, she cuts everything she’s painted up, stares at a blank canvas, and decide what the shapes she’s cut will become.  She feels that the empty canvas space is as important as the colored pieces she eventually place unto it.  What results are compositions that are multi-colored and textured, with a touch of whimsy, that feature scenes of nature and the ocean and the spaces in between.
Jen’s exhibit will be on display the month of October.

Join us for Movie Night at the Malden Public Library on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, from 6:00-8:00pm.  We will be showing a recent movie about a lonely widow named Greta who befriends a young, naïve woman in New York City.  This psychological thriller stars Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Stephen Rea.

Frances (Moretz) finds a handbag on the NYC subway and returns it to its owner, Greta (Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher, who charms Frances into a friendship that becomes increasingly disturbing.

The New York Times calls the movie “…a skillfully executed psychological thriller…” and The New Yorker writes that the film has “…a satisfying sense of fear and tension.…”

This film is free and open to the public and is accessible.  Movie times are approximate.  Rated R (98 min.)

Local author, Jason M. Rubin will discuss his new novel, King of Kings, which brings to life the meeting of (and romance between!) King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Based primarily on the Ethiopian tradition–but also weaving in Jewish, Christian, and other sources–the wise and powerful rulers are drawn together and eventually have a son, Menelik, who is placed in the unique position of being qualified to inherit two thrones. Which will he choose?

King of Kings has been published along with an updated version of Jason’s first novel–The Grave and the Gay (2012), based on a 17th-century English folk ballad–in a single volume under the title Ancient Tales Newly Told.

Books will be available for sale and signing. $15 cash/check.
Refreshments are sponsored by the Friends of the Malden Public Library.

On Tuesday, October 1^st at 6:30 p.m., join Dr. Kimberly Alexander for a discussion of her recently published book Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era.

Shoes reveal important aspects of burgeoning 18^th century American identity — self-fashioning, consumption, politics, and agency.  Presenting a series of stories that reveal how shoes were made, sold, and worn during the long eighteenth century, Alexander traces the fortunes and misfortunes of wearers as their footwear was altered to accommodate poor health, flagging finances, and changing styles.  Dr. Alexander will explore the lives and letters of clever apprentices, skilled cordwainers, wealthy merchants, and elegant brides.

Dr. Kimberly Alexander teaches in the History Department of the University of New Hampshire. She has held curatorial positions at several New England Museums, including the MIT Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum and Strawbery Banke.  Dr. Alexander was the Andrew Oliver Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society (2016-2017) and guest curator of the Society’s 2019 exhibition “Fashioning the New England Family,” and author of a book of the same name.

This lecture is part of Go Local: Converse 2020, an ongoing series celebrating the life and philanthropic contributions of Malden’s first Mayor Elisha Slade Converse and the industrial history of Malden.         Go Local is brought to Malden with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.  The series will continue through Elisha Converse’s 200th Birthday on July 28, 2020.

www.maldenpubliclibrary.org

CO-SPONSORED WITH THE MALDEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

On Monday, September 16^th at 6:30 p.m., local historian Frank Russell, author of An Early History of Malden, will explore changes in Malden over time through its maps.

Maps of the growing Town and City of Malden – from Peter Tufts’s 1794 plan of country roads and taverns through street maps of the mid-nineteenth century, the early twentieth century, and beyond – provide a window into how Malden has changed through the centuries. Through these maps, the audience will gain new insight into the evolution of Malden’s boundaries, topography, place names and neighborhoods. Russell’s talk will include some rare and never-before-seen maps, many from the collection of the Malden Historical Society.

These lectures are part of Go Local: Converse 2020, an ongoing series celebrating the life of Malden’s first mayor Elisha Slade Converse and the industrial history of Malden.   Go Local is brought to Malden with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.  The series will continue through Elisha Converse’s 200^th Birthday on July 28, 2020.  www.maldenpubliclibrary.org

The Malden Public Library will be open on Saturdays beginning on September 7^th.  Come check us out from 9 am to 6 pm.  Thursdays evening hours resume on September 12^th.

Full Fall schedule:

Monday – Thursday 9 AM to 9 PM

Friday & Saturday 9 AM to 6 PM

Closed Sundays

On Saturday, September 7^th at 2:00 p.m., join us for “Best Foot Forward: The Shoe Industry in Massachusetts,” a fascinating lecture by Anna Fahey-Flynn of the Boston Public Library.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Massachusetts was at the heart of the American shoemaking industry.  Anna is the exhibit organizer for the Digital Public Library of America’s online exhibition on the Massachusetts shoe industry.  Anna will discuss the resources available through the Digital Commonwealth which provides access to photographs, manuscripts, books, and other materials from libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies across the state.

This lecture is part of Go Local: Converse 2020, an ongoing series celebrating the life and philanthropic contributions of Malden’s first mayor Elisha Slade Converse and the industrial history of Malden.   Go Local is brought to Malden with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.  The series will continue through Elisha Converse’s 200^th Birthday on July 28, 2020.

On Monday, September 9^th at 6:30 p.m., join us for “Heart and Sole: The Lives of Malden Factory Workers,” presented by local historian Dee Morris.  From 1853 into the 20th century, the Boston Rubber Shoe Company brought increasing prosperity to Malden. This community of employees ranged from highly-skilled boot makers to laborers. Shippers and teamsters maintained the flow while office personnel kept track of everything else. Siblings worked here as did women, newcomers from Ireland and a teenager named Alvan T. Fuller, who would later become Governor of Massachusetts.  Join us for a tribute to their meaningful lives.

Dee Morris is an independent scholar and educational consultant specializing in 19^th-century history of Greater Boston.  She presents walking tours at Forest Hills Cemetery and programs at libraries, schools, and historical societies.  Her goal is to connect people with their civic ancestors.

This lecture is part of Go Local: Converse 2020, an ongoing series celebrating the life and philanthropic contributions of Malden’s first mayor Elisha Slade Converse and the industrial history of Malden.   Go Local is brought to Malden with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.  The series will continue through Elisha Converse’s 200^th Birthday on July 28, 2020.